General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWoman fined for taking turtle for a walk
A 60-year-old Italian woman who took her pizza-sized turtle out for a walk has been fined 400 euros ($440) by the Roman police for breaking strict coronavirus confinement rules. Italians need a justifiable reason to be out on the street in the middle of a pandemic that has officially claimed more than 20,000 lives in the Mediterranean country since February.
Taking your dog out for a walk is viewed as a good enough reason to leave your home. But it seems taking your turtle out for one is not.
Roman police spokesman Nunzio Carbone told AFP that the woman was fined 400 euros because it was "not a justifiable excuse".
Italians have been joking on social media about renting out their dogs to anyone who was going stir crazy and needed a good excuse to go out. Carbone said the turtle was "as big as a pizza" and not wearing a leash.
https://news.yahoo.com/woman-fined-taking-turtle-walk-rome-140211305.html
mopinko
(70,105 posts)trust me, i have a house bear that knows all the dogs.
seen a buncha new faces. all w their little super spreaders in tow.
Celerity
(43,382 posts)No one yet knows what the menu will be for Donald Trump's inauguration meal in January, but perhaps he can take a few pointers from presidents of yore. For example, Truman had baked asparagus tips and green turtle soup. Or Lincoln, who enjoyed a scrumptious meal that included roast beef, almond sponge cake and terrapin. The best president to model maybe William Howard Taft, who served all of his guests his favorite dish in the world - rich turtle soup. Perhaps you're seeing a pattern. Presidents used to eat turtles. So did millions of Americans. Few do today and it's highly unlikely Trump will be serving the green reptile at his presidential bash. So, what happened to it as a delicacy?
There was a time when America's ponds, streams and swamps were full of turtles and terrapins. During colonial times, they were an abundant and easily caught resource. European settlers who had not experienced this slow-moving creature before found the meat novel and hearty. Because of this, turtles ended up on dinner tables of both the rich and poor. As available as turtles were in early America, they were a bit tough to cook correctly. First off, only female turtles, or "cow turtles" were meaty and tasty enough to eat straight up. Male turtles were thought to be bland, but were still used in soup and stew. In addition, experts said that the flippered reptile's body contained seven different kinds of meat (apparently, reminiscent of pork, chicken, beef, shrimp, veal, fish and goat) all with their own consistency and proper ways of preparing.
18th and 19th-century cookbooks tried to give at-home chefs explicit instructions on how to properly clean, prepare and cook the shelled creature. The 18th-century cook Richard Briggs normally imported his turtles from the Caribbean because they were much larger in size (sometimes reaching 900 pounds) and could feed a crowd. He advised to always serve them fresh and boil the meat before frying and seasoning. While turtles were also eaten in the south, it was in Philadelphia that turtle soup, or "snapper soup," took off and still is considered one of the city's premier culinary dish. Likely due to the city's approximation to terrapin habitats in the many bodies of water in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia's pre-revolutionary taverns often spiked the soup with sherry. It's said that after long days debating democracy at the First Continental Congress, John Adams (who later become our nation's second president) would relax with a bowl of sherry-infused snapper soup.
Turtle soup remained extremely popular through the most of the 19th century, but its main ingredient was quite literally running out. Like many things at this time, food took a turn towards mass production. By 1882, canned turtle soup could be found in grocery stores across the country. Due to this overhunting, turtle populations (like the Delaware Valley's terrapins) quickly declined. Turtle meat prices shot up and, soon, it became a delicacy that only the rich could afford. Still, everyone wanted their soup, so mock turtle soup was invented. To imitate the texture and taste of real turtle, the recipes often called for boiled calf heads rather than the namesake meat. Still, turtle meat and soup survived at least until World War II becoming a symbol of opulence and grandeur ( fancy presidential inauguration dinners certainly exemplify those characteristics). By the mid-20th century, with federal restrictions put in place to protect turtles and their habitats, both turtle and mock turtle fell completely out of style and is no longer easily found in " target="_blank">red and white Campbell soup cans grocery stores nationwide.
snip
Submariner
(12,504 posts)the orange sh*tbag may try it, but I think our turtles are safe from Trumpolini consumption.
eppur_se_muova
(36,263 posts)"No," said Alice. "I don't even know what a Mock Turtle is."
"It's the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from", said the Queen.
Alice in Wonderland, chapter 9
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)turn them into soup. While we weren't paying attention, though, the protected preserve seems to have been advanced to the edge of our property anyway.
I just checked on Campbell's, and reportedly they sold mock turtle soup made from calf's heads. Darn, missed out on that too!
But Cincinnati's Worthmore still makes mock.
Mendocino
(7,492 posts)[link:
|3catwoman3
(23,988 posts)...of the turtle making a break for it.
Raine
(30,540 posts)it would take an hour just to get to the end of the drive way. Tortoises 🐢 🐢 can move faster then you think but it's still a slooooow walk.