Conch - Food

Food

Second in popularity only to the escargot for edible snails, the meat of conches is used as food, either eaten raw, as in salads, or cooked, as in fritters, chowders, gumbos, and burgers. All parts of the conch meat are edible. However, some people find only the white meat appetizing.

In East Asian cuisines, this seafood is often cut into thin slices and then steamed or stir-fried.

In the West Indies (and Turks and Caicos Islands in particular), local people eat conch in soups (commonly callaloo) and salads. Restaurants all over the islands serve this particular meat.

In the The Turks and Caicos Islands, the Annual Conch Festival is held in November each year, located at the Three Queen's Bar/Restautant in Blue Hills. Local restaurateurs compete for the best and original conch dishes, and are judged by international chefs. Free sampling of the dishes follows, and other competitions, events and music happen well into the evening, making this a very popular event for islanders and tourists.

In the island of Grenada, conch is commonly eaten in curries or in a spicy soup. It is locally referred to as lambi.

In Puerto Rico, conch is served as a ceviche, often called ensalada de carrucho (conch salad), consisting of raw conch marinated in lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, green peppers, and onions.

In Panama, conch is known as cambombia and is often served as a ceviche known as ceviche de cambombia consisting of raw conch marinated in lime juice, chopped onions, finely chopped habanero peppers and often vinegar. It is particularly popular in Panama's Colon and Bocas del Toro provinces where many of the locals are descendants of West Indian immigrants.