Turtle soup is a soup of turtle meat. It was a desired and high-status food item in European and American cuisine for much of the 19th and 20th centuries but has now fallen from favor, in large part due to the over-exploitation and near extinction of the preferred turtle species.
Classically, turtle soup was made from the large sea turtle. The flesh was used to make a stock, reinforced with beef and chicken. The bony carapace and plastron were removed from the shell, cut into pieces, blanched, and stewed with the stock, vegetables, and herbs for 6 or 7 hours. They were then cut into small pieces and kept warm which the soup was strained and enriched with Madeira or sherry.