Mock turtle soup

Mock turtle soup is an English soup that was created in the mid-18th century as an imitation of green turtle soup. It often uses brains and organ meats such as calf's head to duplicate the texture and flavour of the original's turtle meat after the green turtles used to make the original dish were hunted nearly to extinction. In the United States, mock turtle soup eventually became more popular than the original dish and is still popular in Cincinnati. The soup is also a traditional dish in the Lower Saxony areas of Germany, where it is considered a specialty of English cuisine. Calf's head soups were known in England before importation of turtles began. The soup was created in response to overhunting to near extinction of the turtles needed for the original dish. Turtle soup was known as early as the 1720s after sailors returning from the West Indies brought several green turtles home with them and was popular by the mid-18th century. By the late 19th century, commercial brands of canned mock turtle soup were available and advertising, ironically, warned consumers to "Beware of Imitations".

Source: Wikipedia