Preparing the Plastron and the Carapace

Ingredients

• turtle carapace and plastron
• the same garnish as for an ordinary marmite
• a small proportion of turtle herbs
• green fat of the turtle
• salted water

Instructions

1. Saw the carapace into 6 or 8 pieces and the plastron into 4 pieces.
2. Blanch the pieces a few minutes in boiling water or in steam, so that the shell plates can be detached; remove the shell.
3. Refresh the pieces well, then set them to cook as for an ordinary marmite, with the same garnish, reinforced only with a small proportion of turtle herbs.
4. Cook 5 to 6 hours, then withdraw the pieces from the cooking liquor and bone them.
5. Refresh the flesh taken from the carapaces, trim it carefully, and cut it into squares of 3 to 4 centimetres a side.
6. Poach the green fat in salted water and cut it into escalopes; with the squares of flesh it makes the garnish of the soup.
7. Reserve the cooking liquor of the carapace and plastron for the making of the soup itself.