What exactly is Conch?
by roxanne on 06/24/09 at 5:02 am
Last night, I had the honor of judging a Conch cookoff at Kahuna’s Tiki Bar and Grill. Kahuna’s was celebrating the first day of Summer with a Summer Surf Bash that included contests like ” conch blowing contest, best board shorts, and ugliest flip flops. I judged all of the categories with the culmination was the conch recipe cookoff. The event benefited the Make-A-Wish foundation of Central and South Texas.
My fellow judges were Olga Campos from KVUE, food critic extraordinaire, Rob Baylon, and Austin blogger Cynthia McGrail.
I should confess that my Conch knowledge is limited. I don’t like seafood as a category, but dabble in shrimp, calamari, crab, and lobster. And believe me if my parents read that, they would be impressed. I have come a long way baby!
(At Kahuna’s with my girls.)
But I was excited and honored to be judging the cookoff. My criteria? If it didn’t taste fishy it was good. And if it tasted like a dish I could get through without thinking about fish, it was good.
The three dishes were:
Conch Fritters
Ceviche Conch
Corn Chowder with Conch
All were good and passed my criteria. That made the judging hard but enjoyable. Ultimately I had to hand my crown to the Corn Chowder. Which I couldn’t get enough of! It was delicious and even had a little bacon in it! The winner’s dish will be featured on the menu until the end of Summer (late September).
The overall winner? Well in the end Conch! Why you ask? Because I can now add it to my list of seafood that I am willing to knowingly eat.
You should definitely head over to Kahuna’s sometime soon. The food is wonderful, the dress is casual, and the fun if flowing. Hang loose! Click below for the Kahuna’s website.
And by the way, Conch is the thing that lives in those big shells that are found on the beach in the Caribbean and people blow to make a loud noise. Impressive description, I know ha ha.
