Meatless Monday and Conch Salad

I’ve had ceviche a handful of times, and each one was unique and delicious. It can be prepared with a lot of different seafood, and it seems that each area has it’s own twist to make it regional. Traditionally, it is made with fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices, such as lemon or lime, and spiced with some form of chili pepper. I was excited when I heard that conch is the national dish of the Bahamas, and conch salad their speciality.

We were headed to Flo’s, on an out island about an hour by boat. Although Flo is no longer with us, her son Chester keeps up the tradition of conch salad and conch fritters that has made the spot secretly famous over the years. The simple interior, lined with signed dollar bills from many a customer, has seen the likes of Penelope Cruz and Brad Pitt, and I felt privileged to have the chance to visit this unlikely paradise in the middle of the turquoise waters.

Yes, I’m always harping about know your food, but I’m not sure I would have had the nerve to eat this if I had done too much investigation about what the raw form of a gastropod mollusk looks like! Let’s just say I’m happy I went in naive, and didn’t do my research until after the fact.

I found this particular version of ceviche, the perfect combination of sweet and tangy. I think the secret ingredient here was orange juice. It came with a side of goat pepper hot sauce. {you can see it in the photo at the left of the conch salad-that teeny amount for our table of 8}. I’d say it’s similar to a scotch bonnet on the heat level. While I’m not sure where conch is readily available, you can use it’s northern cousin, the Whelk if you’d like to give another salad recipe a try. Washed down with a local Kalik beer, it was divine!