The Politics of the Turtle Feast in 18th-Century England
The humble sea turtle became the pinnacle of haute cuisine in the eighteenth century. From calipash to calipee, the green sea turtle was without doubt the most expensive, status-laden, and morally contested feat of eighteenth-century English cuisine. Virtually unknown as human food before mid-century, the amphibious reptile quickly became an enduring symbol of both refined taste and savage indulgence,[…]