A delicacy of Caribbean and Creole cuisine, conch fritters are the national dish of sunny Bahamas. It consists of pounded, tenderized conch meat that is fried in batter with tomatoes, onions, celery, bell peppers, and various, often peppery seasonings.
Conch meat is combined with vegetables because it takes a lot of effort to obtain a small amount of meat, and it's a way of making every bit of meat count. Usually tough and sturdy, conch meat greatly benefits from being cooked in tiny, diced pieces.
MOST ICONIC Conch Fritters
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Cracked conch is one of the most popular Bahamian dishes – conch meat is breaded in a batter made with flour, then deep-fried until golden and crispy. The name of this dish refers to a method of tenderizing the tough, chewy meat with a meat mallet or a frying pan.
These golden conch nuggets are typically paired with french fries or peas and rice. When paired with french fries, the dish is usually served on a sweet bread roll with ketchup or hot sauce on the side. It can also be consumed as an appetizer, when it is served with fresh lime juice and goat pepper sauce.
MOST ICONIC Cracked Conch
Crack Conch with peas and rice is the national dish of the Bahamas. Conch is a large sea snail that has been traditionally eaten in the region since before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. The natives did not only eat the mollusc, but used them to make tools, musical instruments, and ceremonial artifacts.
The conch lies on the bottom of the seabed in big, fluted shells with pink interiors. It may be eaten raw or cooked, but in this particular dish, it is deep-fried. The finished meal looks similar to fried calamari, but it is much tastier, as the locals say.
MOST ICONIC Crack Conch with Peas and Rice
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Conch ceviche is a Bahamian twist on the classic ceviche, made with conch meat as the key ingredient. It typically consists of conch meat, tomatoes, red onion, scotch bonnet peppers for heat, and diced mango for a small touch of sweetness.
This ceviche variety is typically dressed with freshly squeezed sour orange and key lime juice. After the dish has been seasoned with salt and pepper and tossed, it should be served immediately.
MOST ICONIC Conch Ceviche
Conch salad is one of the most popular Bahamian dishes that is both a flavorful comfort food and a colorful, edible work of art. The key ingredient in the dish is conch, a shellfish that is unfortunately slowly dying out due to its rapid depletion in the Caribbean seas.
Other ingredients include finely chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and a marinade of goat pepper, lime, and orange juice, a mixture that also partly cooks the raw white conch meat. However, there is also a tropical version of the salad with apples, pineapple, and mango added to the regular salad, with a less spicy flavor.
MOST ICONIC Conch Salad
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Baked stuffed crab is a Bahamian dish that is typically served as an appetizer. It is prepared with Dungeness crabs, bread crumbs, butter, onions, bell peppers, thyme, and lemon juice. The meat is taken out of the crab and cooked with other ingredients.
The combination is then stuffed into crab bottom shells, which are subsequently baked until lightly browned. When served, the dish is drizzled with lemon juice and garnished with fresh lemon slices. It is recommended to serve baked stuffed crab with steamed rice, vegetables, or baked potatoes on the side.
This Bahamian fish stew is made with flour, onions, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, oil, and fish such as snapper or grouper. The fish is first browned, then combined with flour which has been browned in oil, onions, spices, carrots, potatoes, and tomato paste.
The concoction is then simmered until the fish is tender and fully cooked. It is recommended to serve this stew with homemade bread or johnny cakes on the side.
MOST ICONIC Bahamian Stew Fish
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Abaco baked grouper is a traditional fish dish originating from the Bahamas. The dish is made with a combination of grouper fillets, minced onions, chopped tomatoes and bell peppers, salt, pepper, and oil. The tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers are cooked in oil until tender.
Grouper fillets are placed into a greased baking dish, and they’re topped with the vegetables and seasoned with salt and pepper. The dish is baked in the oven until the fish is fully cooked and flaky, and abaco baked grouper is then ready to be enjoyed.
Red conch chowder is a Caribbean dish that's especially popular in The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and the Florida Keys. The conch is pounded with a hammer in order to make it tender, and it's then chopped and combined with onions, celery, green onions, hot peppers, tomatoes and tomato paste, potatoes, beans, and herbs and spices.
The combination is boiled for a few hours until all the flavors blend together. This red-colored chowder is light and brothy when first prepared, but if it's left overnight and eaten the next day, its consistency slightly thickens due to the starches coming from the potatoes.
MOST ICONIC Red Conch Chowder
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Bahamian stewed conch is a traditional seafood stew originating from the Bahamas. It's often made with a combination of large conch, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, lime juice, thyme, oil, flour, tomato paste, ketchup, red pepper flakes, and seasonings.
The conch meat is tenderized and stewed with the rest of the ingredients until the potatoes and the conch are both tender. Once done, the stew is served with lime wedges, johnnycakes, or bread. This dish is one of the most popular comfort foods during the winter season in the Bahamas.
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