Snapper Trappin

[River Rat]

Joe did you see my article in the Gloucester County Times today?It was in the Food Section B-1,HRL:thup:

[ub1243]

no, missed it. :D


Snapper Trapper

Posted by South Jersey News Online vwilliams@sjnewsco.com (http://blog.nj.com/southjerseylife/about.html) April 15, 2009 10:37AM

When a chef from England needed turtle for soup he brought his film crew to one of the biggest snapper trapping areas in the world -- Gloucester County
http://blog.nj.com/southjerseylife/2009/04/large_041309Snapper2.jpgPhoto courtesy of Harry Ladner Harry Ladner of Thorofare holds a snapping turtle.


By Kaelin O'Connell
koconnell@sjnewsco.com
When world famous chef Heston Blumenthal selected the menu for his cooking show about a Victorian feast, turtle soup was a must. The Victorian delicacy was served at Queen Victoria's jubilee feast, and ingredients cost more than a poor family would have made in two weeks.
But Blumenthal couldn't get snapper turtles in England where it is illegal to hunt turtles, so he took his crew to one of the biggest snapper trapping areas in the world: Gloucester County, New Jersey.
http://blog.nj.com/southjerseylife/2009/04/medium_041309Snapper1.jpgStaff photo by Tim Hawk Ladner carries a trap he used to catch snapper turtles.


"It's big around this area. If you go to the Colonial Diner you can get snapper soup, and there's not many places you can get that," said Harry Ladner, the commercial snapper trapper featured on Blumenthal's English cooking show, "Heston's Feasts," last month.
Ladner, of Thorofare, has been trapping snappers as a hobby since he was 10, spanning the Delaware from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge to the Mantua River. His lone injury came when a turtle took the tip of his thumb before finally releasing its firm grip -- "but it's much better now," he said, looking down at his fingertip.
Ladner started trapping commercially five years ago. When one of his buyers left him stuck with too much turtle last season, he posted an ad on Craigslist to sell the extra snapper. At the same time on the other side of the Atlantic, Blumenthal's producers were looking for a trapper to star in an episode of "Heston's Feasts" in which the famous cook would recreate a fine Victorian dinner for his audience. They saw Ladner's ad, then sent Blumenthal and his crew to snapper-rich New Jersey.
The episode, which aired in Britain in March but never in America, shows Blumenthal and Ladner cruising down Woodbury Creek in Ladner's boat, then heading back to Ladner's home to cook the turtle. But the meat did not taste the way Heston expected, and he ultimately decided to serve "Mock Turtle Soup" instead, which is made with a calf's head.
For anyone who wants to make the real deal at home (Ladner provided his own turtle soup recipe), Ladner recommended using boneless snapper turtle meat. You can't buy it in grocery stores, but you can get it at specialty fish markets.
"My biggest thing with snapper soup is you don't want to overcook the meat," he said. "When I cook soup I don't put my meat in until an hour before it is done."
Snapper Soup
1 pound turtle meat or lean stewing beef
1⁄4 cup butter
1⁄3 cup celery, diced
1⁄3 onions, diced
1⁄3 carrots, diced
1⁄3 cup flour
1 sp. paprika
1 quart beef stock
1⁄2 cup tomato puree
1 clove garlic, crushed
1⁄2 tsp. all spice
1⁄2 tsp. pepper
1⁄4 tsp. salt
1⁄4 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1⁄2 cup water
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. parsley, chopped
1⁄3 cup cream sherry
1⁄4 tsp. whole mixed pickling spice
Place turtle or beef in stock pot with 11⁄2 quarts water. Bring to a boil. Skim during cooking. Simmer for 2 hours or until meat is tender.
Strain meat from stock. Dice meat into 1⁄4-inch pieces. Set both aside.
Cook vegetables in butter until onions are translucent. Add beef stock.
In a small bowl, mix 1⁄4 cup water into paprika and flour until smooth. Add tomato puree and spices. Stir into beef stock until well blended. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 to 21⁄2 hours.
Strain soup. Place vegetables into food processor or blender and puree.
Mix cornstarch with remaining water and blend until smooth. Add to soup and cook 15 minutes, stirring, until stock is thickened.
Add meat and vegetable puree. Remove from direct heat. Add sherry right before.

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right before you leave you add a little more to, the man, the myth, the legend. god dam nj west coast folk lore. :bow:
nice story. may have to stop buy and grab some swamp meat and give the recipe a try.
it's only you and buzzy trappin turtles around now, and your leaving. hows john gona get meat next year. buzzy's selling in delaware.

[Buck Shad]

Hey guys,
Glad to see some people other then my dad and i still like snappers. We still enjoy trapping and eating the turtles. I have been doing it since I was a young man. We sometimes just go out with a oak pole and a pair of sneakers!!LOL Gets alittle muddy but it is still A great time spent with my dad. :thup:

[River Rat]

Yes just a lil more folklore,Joe shoot me an e-mail,,,LOL:DHRL




right before you leave you add a little more to, the man, the myth, the legend. god dam nj west coast folk lore. :bow:
nice story. may have to stop buy and grab some swamp meat and give the recipe a try.
it's only you and buzzy trappin turtles around now, and your leaving. hows john gona get meat next year. buzzy's selling in delaware.

Buckshad you start probing yet?I saw 2 snappers today walkin the top,HRL:thup:
Hey guys,
Glad to see some people other then my dad and i still like snappers. We still enjoy trapping and eating the turtles. I have been doing it since I was a young man. We sometimes just go out with a oak pole and a pair of sneakers!!LOL Gets alittle muddy but it is still A great time spent with my dad. :thup:

[fizz]

where's my horn so I can toot it:razz:

[River Rat]

where's my horn so I can toot it:razz:
Just go out and use the one in your truck,if it works that is,,,:D:wave:

[ONESHOT]

Nice article,I enjoyed it very much. I trapped snappers as a young man along with musk rat's in Essington PA 1961 trru 66 and then four years in the military and some how let it go by the way side. Four years ago I got the itch and built 10 fikes and was back at it age 60 ! I don't walk the swamp as I once did and work mostly from the boat, but when Im out there im 16 all over again !
The year before last I had two over 40lbs in one fike and had to cut the hog rings off the back of the fike to get them out, one 44lbs and one 40 even.I think there are the biggest ive ever caught. I have not set this year yet been takeing care of a ill family member ,but the fikes are ready and I hope to get out a little this month.
Great thread and Nice Pictures. Mike:thup:

[Unami]

Great article. Thanks for sharing it. I used to trap turtles when I was a teen. I made soem pretty good money that year. They are some mean critters.