Mock Turtle Soup is Real
The “Mock Turtle” sounds like another completely made-up fantasy character, and the mock turtle soup of Chapter Nine seems even more inventive. Yet this food is real and was quite popular for a time in England.
English mathematician, writer and photographer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll (1832 – 1898) with Mrs George Macdonald and four children relaxing in a garden. (Photo by Lewis Carroll/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Then as now, turtle soup was quite a delicacy. Mock turtle soup uses various cow parts to mimic the texture and color of green turtle soup. The English version called for a boiled calf’s head with the hair scalded off. There are some American versions as well. Most of them use alligator meat or ground beef instead of turtles.