By The Beachwood Conch Affairs Desk
Islands Prepare for Fifth Annual Conch Festival
Competition Winners to Join Other World Class Chefs at South Beach Food and Wine Festival
TURKS AND CAICOS, BWI – The Turks and Caicos Islands, a burgeoning luxury destination best known for its world class beaches, is preparing for the Islands’ most famous culinary extravaganza – the Fifth Annual Turks & Caicos Conch Festival. Visitors are invited to join locals, Nov. 29, 2008, on Providenciales’ (Provo) powdery white sand beach to indulge in Turks & Caicos’ unique flavors. The event, named one of the “Top 10 Festivals of the Year” by MSNBC in 2007, includes music, cultural activities and a cooking competition in honor of conch, a cultural icon and fundamental element of Caribbean cuisine.
“We are thrilled to bring this culinary celebration of Caribbean culture back for the fifth year,” said Ralph Higgs, director of tourism marketing at the Turks & Caicos Tourist Board. “The Conch Festival allows Turks and Caicos to showcase our culture and cuisine to visitors from around the world. We look forward to seeing the winners represent Turks and Caicos in South Beach this winter.”
Turks and Caicos is the world’s second largest exporter of conch, and one of the few countries allowed to take conch directly from the sea thanks to its established Fisheries Division, which manages the process, and the Islands’ strong conservation practices. The Islands are also home to the world’s only conch farm, Caicos Conch Farm, where Caribbean Queen Conch are raised from veliger to adult. As such, conch is a specialty dish served countless ways in the Islands – cracked conch, conch fritters, conch chowder, conch salad, curry conch – at upscale establishments like Simba at Turks & Caicos Club and Grace Bay Club’s Anacaona and local eateries including Da Conch Shack and Hole in the Wall, a past champion of the competition.
During the festival, chefs will prepare this protein-packed aphrodisiac using a variety of techniques in hopes of being awarded the winner in one of three categories: best conch salad, best conch chowder, and best specialty conch dish.
The full-day celebration, held in historic Blue Hills, one of Provo’s original settlements and a quaint seaside throwback to earlier days in the Caribbean, will include a conch recipe contest, native boat races, live music, a conch treasure hunt and a conch blowing contest.
For those who can’t get enough conch, the Caicos Conch Farm is open to visitors interested in learning how conch are raised, handpicking a pink conch pearl souvenir, purchasing fresh conch or conch shells to bring home, and watching a show with two trained and very friendly conchs. Travelers can also embark on full-day or half-day conch cruises where boat captains will first take guests snorkeling along the Islands’ world-renowned barrier reef and then teach visitors how to free dive for conch, get the conch out of its shell, and prepare fresh conch salads, to be enjoyed during a Caribbean BBQ on an uninhabited island.
Entrance to the Turks & Caicos Conch Festival costs $20, entitling attendees to a tasting of every conch dish entered in the competition. Judges of the contest will include nationally-known chefs Clay Conley, head chef at Azul at Miami’s Mandarin Oriental, and Dean Max, chef/owner of 3030 Ocean in Fort Lauderdale and Latitude 41 in Columbus, OH.
Winners of the contest will be invited to represent Turks & Caicos at The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, a national, star-studded, four-day destination event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities, taking place Feb. 19 – Feb. 22, 2009.
Please visit the Turks & Caicos Conch Festival website for more information and a complete schedule of events.
About Conch
Conch (pronounced “konk”) is a common name for large marine snails, also known as gastropod mollusks, more specifically the queen, pink-lipped conch, which are found in the warmer waters of the Atlantic and the Caribbean. The bright pink colored shells are 12 to 13 inches in length and have been a popular Caribbean treat since the 1400s. Common conch creations are soup and salad, conch fritters, conch chowder, conch steaks and marinated raw conch salad.
About Turks & Caicos
The 40 islands of the Turks & Caicos, of which eight are inhabited, are renowned for their award-winning beaches, diving and array of world-class resorts. Additional activities include tennis, golf and horseback riding. The islands feature a variety of spa and body treatment services and is home to the world’s only conch farm. There are three daily 90-minute direct flights from Miami, a US Airways direct flight from Charlotte, daily flights from New York and weekly flights from Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Toronto. For more information on travel, visit the Turks & Caicos Islands Tourist Board website or call (800) 241-0824.
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COMMENTS
1. I hear the conch from Lord of the Flies is flying in for the occasion.
2. Does anybody ever confuse you guys with Trinidad & Tobago? Like, a hundred times a day . . .
Posted on November 12, 2008