Caribbean Fare - Conch & Cocktails

For the vacation we've been planning since before we got married, J and I and a couple from church (our Wednesday Game Night buddies) went on a four-day Caribbean cruise. Last Saturday, we drove to Port Canaveral, Florida, got on the Carnival Sensation ship on Sunday, hit Freeport Harbor and Port Lucaya (on Grand Bahama Island) on Monday, Nassau on Tuesday and spent a day at sea on Wednesday. This was an amazing trip and I want to tell you all about the fun we had!

This trip fulfilled so many firsts for us - my first trip to Florida, our first cruise, first international excursion, and first double-date vacation.

Even with all the new adventures, we stuck to some of our best vacation traditions, including exploring the local food scene.

In Freeport, we were running from Tropical Storm Bertha who descended upon us as we arrived at the beach in Port Lucaya. It was a torrential downpour with taxis not returning to the ship for three hours, so we took a Bahamian "alcove tour" as we searched for shelter from the storm. After being soaked to the bone, we happened across a candy shop where I bought a favorite Caribbean soda - Goombay Punch.

Note my sopping wet shirt!

Goombay Punch is a fruity, yellow soda with the most prevalent flavors being pineapple and lemon. It's a bold flavor bursting with fruitiness and sugar. I tried a sip and was blown away with how shockingly sweet it was. For perspective: a can of Coke has 39 grams of sugar, a can of Goombay Punch has 54 grams of sugar. That's almost 1.5 times as sweet as a traditional Coke!! The bright flavor and sugaryness overwhelmed me but I couldn't quite put my finger on why it tasted so familiar. Then I got a whiff of the bright yellow, bubbly liquid and I figured it out: if you took a bag of gummy bears, melted them down and added a touch (only a touch) of carbonation, you'd have Goombay Punch. I think this could be a good base for a Caribbean cocktail - think rum and Coke, but with Goombay - or in teeny tiny servings, but there was no way I could drink 12 ounces of this in a sitting!

Next, we headed to try a Caribbean staple - conch. Conch is the seafood item from the beautiful, curved pink conch shells (you know, the big, cliche shells you put to your ear to hear the ocean). It is an "edible marine snail" that is illegal to harvest in the United States, so it is rare to see on American menus (since it must be imported from the Caribbean). We knew we had to seek out these critters while we had the chance!
After going into sugar shock from my soda, we stopped in at After Dock, a restaurant in the center of the shopping district for conch fritters.

The fritters were like a mix of a crab cake and a hushpuppy. They were fried bread fritters with hearty chunks of conch inside with a spicy seasoning and a bold dipping sauce, like a zesty thousand island dressing. The conch pieces were chewy but the flavor was great and the breading was fluffy and light. I imagine that like most invertebrate seafood items - scallops, calamari, mussels - conch can easily develop into a tough, rubbery meat. I enjoyed the dish and would certainly eat this again, and would love to try different preparations of conch. 

J and I also toasted our adventure with Bahama Mama cocktails. These drinks are fruity, usually made of pineapple and orange juice, and rum-filled. The After Dock's version was heavy on the grenadine and ruby red grapefruit juice giving it an acidic bite to match the rummy burn. Being constantly vigilant to avoid heartburn, I'd prefer a more traditional cocktail with a little less citrus and more "gentle" fruit juices.

If a trip to the islands isn't in your future, here's a more traditional Bahama Mama recipe to give you a refreshing taste of the Caribbean. 

Ingredients:

1/2 fluid oz. rum (Tortuga is made in country, if you're going for authenticity)

1/2 fluid oz. coconut rum (Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay has been a favorite of mine for many years)

1/2 fluid oz. of grenadine syrup

1 fluid oz. orange or grapefruit juice

1 fluid oz. pineapple juice (I'd go heavier on the pineapple, lighter on the citrus)

1 c. crushed ice

Method:

Blend all ingredients in an electric blender until at a slushy consistency or mix rums and juices, pour over ice and pour over grenadine for the "sunrise" ombre effect.