Answer: Calf Heads

If you’ve never had mock turtle soup, it would be pretty easy to assume that…well, it was made of turtles. English in origin, mock turtle soup isn’t made of turtles, but instead meant to be a cheaper imitation of the much more expensive green turtle soup (which is most definitely packed with turtle meat).

Mock turtle soup is typically made with a calf head (for the brain) and other organ meat to replicate the texture and flavor of turtle meat. Although true turtle soup has fallen out of fashion for the most part, mock turtle soup remains popular—long outliving the thing it was intended to imitate.