Cook Book Club: April's Ingredient is Cayenne Pepper. The Country: Bahamas!

In our fourth year, we finished up our first trip to Asia with Laos and Mongolia before heading on a brief sojourn to North America (almost done) and then over to some of the countries of Oceania (Australia, Samoa, Marshall Islands, & Fiji) before taking a break in November and December as usual to look back at a couple of popular recipes from the past. Kits include a little bit about the country of focus, a recipe (or more) that is native to the country, and an ingredient or two from that recipe without which, it wouldn't be the same. Most recipes are from writers native to the country covered or otherwise lived experience of that culture. I'll post the recipes and information here as well, so let's get cooking!

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Conch, Culture, & Conservation

As explained by various cultural & ecological resources

Let’s take a trip to the sunny, white-sand beaches of the Bahamas. There you will sip on fruity drinks and eat seafood to your heart’s content all while sunning yourself under a brilliant blue sky with a light sea breeze kissing your skin. This is the image most of us have of this nation made up of hundreds of islands and thousands of keys stretching from Florida to Cuba. Some people don’t even realize that it is its own country. It lies in that nebulous area of the US cultural awareness of similar island nations such as Fiji, Tahiti, and a number of other Pacific islands where our general awareness consists of sand, sun and fantasy vacations.

In reality, much as other nations do, the Bahamas has an old and colorful history, rich in more than 1,500 years of culture and tradition shaped by indigenous, African, and colonial European peoples. Also, much like other island nations, their traditional diet is heavily reliant on food from the sea.

The Queen Conch, in particular, is a cornerstone to both cuisine and culture, from ancient island dwellers using both the meat from the gastropod mollusk for sustenance and the shell for tools and jewelry to the modern day symbol for the Bahamian identity and culinary excellence.

Unfortunately, due to the popularity of the islands as a popular vacation spot and their subsequent overharvesting of the gastropod to match visitor & local demand, the Queen Conch is currently considered a threatened species and is on the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) list as well as numerous local conservation lists. Entire conch graveyards (mountains of discarded conch shells) can be found on the islands, usually nearby popular restaurants. If we continue to harvest the conch at the rate we are doing so, their population will likely collapse within the next 30 years. This would lead to a devastating cultural, economic and ecological collapse of the area and cause long-term damage to the nation's identity and livelihood.

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Main Recipe

Imitation Conch Fritters

This recipe has been adapted from authentic recipes on Food.com and AllRecipes.com with reference to NassauParadiseIsland.comfor use by the Brown Deer Library Cookbook Club

Serves: 2-4    Time: 60 min.

Ingredients

Fritters:

• 1 qt oil (for frying)

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 egg

• ½ cup milk

• 1 cup seafood (calamari (squid), scallops, lobster or clam), chopped

• 1⁄2 onion, chopped

• ¼ green bell pepper, finely chopped

• ¼ yellow bell pepper, finely chopped

• ¼ red bell pepper, finely chopped

• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• ground cayenne pepper, to taste

• red pepper flakes, to taste

• seasoning salt, to taste

• salt (optional to taste)

• ground coarse black pepper, to taste

Dipping Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp ketchup

• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice, no subs

• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise

• 1 tsp Tabasco sauce, or

• 1 tsp "Pickapeppa" Sauce (A1 or Worcestershire sauce with a little brown sugar or tamarind paste work in a pinch for substitute)

• salt, to taste

• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

  
  

Directions

1. Heat the oil in large pot or deep fryer to 365°F (185°C).

2. In a bowl, mix the flour, egg and milk.

3. Season with cayenne pepper, seasoning salt, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

4. Mix in the conch meat, onion, red & yellow & green pepper, celery and garlic.

5. Drop the batter by rounded tablespoons into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.

6. BE CAREFUL!

7. Remove the basket or with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

8. Now, is the time to slightly season, again.

9. In a bowl, mix the ketchup, "lime" juice, mayonnaise, hot sauce, salt & pepper.

10. Serve dipping sauce on the side with the fritters.

11. Enjoy!