Cultural depictions of turtles Adventures in Wonderland". In the illustration by John Tenniel, the Mock Turtle is depicted as a turtle with the head, hooves, and tail of a calf; referencing the real ingredients of mock turtle soup. In the children's story, "Esio Trot" by Roald Dahl, a character named Mrs. Silver has a small pet tortoise, Alfie, who she loves very much. One morning, Mrs. Silver mentions to Mr. Hoppy that even though she has had Alfie for many years, her pet has only grown a tiny bit and has gained only 3 ounces in weight. She confesses that she wishes she knew
Turtle soup In countries such as Singapore with large Chinese populations, turtle soup is a Chinese delicacy. The meat, skin and innards of the turtle are used in the soup. Soft-shelled turtles (鱉) such as "Pelodiscus sinensis" are commonly consumed in this manner in Chinese cuisine, while consumption of hard-shelled turtles (龜) is often avoided due to their mythical connotations. However, the hard shells of certain turtles are used in the preparation of so-called "turtle jelly", or "Guilinggao". 19th-century American cookbooks advised homemakers that for the best turtle soup one should choose a turtle about in weight, as a smaller one would