Mock turtle soup from the time of the personal union between the Kingdom of Hanover and the Kingdom of Great Britain. While green sea turtle was popular for soup making in many countries, U.S. recipes included many other local species. Soup made from snapping turtles is still available in parts of the country. Similarly mock turtle soup recipes have a variety of substitute meats. Beside organ meats like the British recipes, recipes in the U.S. often use stewing beef or ground beef but may call for alligator. The Campbell Soup Company once produced canned mock turtle soup made of calf's head. In a
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