Conch in Crisfield

Conch Salad

4 conch, cleaned; skin removed

1 small onion

1 stalk celery

½ small sweet pepper

1 large tomato

½ cup  lime juice

salt, pepper and hot pepper to taste.

 We used to spend a lot of time on Long Island in the Bahamas. The islanders cook "real" food, not the kind you find in restaurants where the tourists hang out. When you have history on your side, you know how to cook. Long Island is  kind of like Crisfield. Our restaurants know how to dish up Eastern Shore Foods. When you eat a meal at one of our many restaurants, you are getting a little tradition is each bite.


Oh, those fancy places in New York and D.C. may advertise "Maryland crab" this and that and "Maryland oysters" and yes, we ship our delicacies all over the U.S and Canada, but dollars to donuts, most of the people who do the cooking have never even been to Crisfield, so whadda they know about tradition?


Although, Crisfielders don't seem to fancy conch on a regular basis, it does come in on the boats that have been crabbing and fishing on the ocean side. I "caught" this basket of conch that came in last week. If you like conch, keep your eyes open when the boats come in, or just ask one of the seafood dealers if they can get one of our waterman to catch you a basket of conch.


I fell in love with conch in the Bahamas, mostly because they know how to do conch jerky so well, and their lime conch salad was to die for. So surf the internet for recipes, and keep your eyes peeled for another basket of these delicacies.


You want tradition? Come to Crisfield!