History

Bahamian settlers, many arriving from the Abacos and Eleuthera through the 19th century, brought conch to Key West along with the word Conch itself, still the local term for anyone born on the island. Conch was cheap protein hauled from the flats. Florida's fishery could not survive the demand: harvest in Key West alone reached 250,000 conch a year in the 1960s, and after a moratorium in 1978 the state banned all queen conch harvest in 1985. Every fritter sold in Key West today is made from imported meat, mostly from Honduras, Belize and Jamaica, which is why menus say Bahamian style rather than local.

Common allergens: Shellfish, Gluten, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 25 minTotal 40 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 350g conch meat, tenderised and finely chopped
  • 150g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 120ml whole milk
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 red pepper, finely diced
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • Half a scotch bonnet, deseeded and minced
  • 1 tsp salt, half tsp black pepper
  • Neutral oil for deep frying
  • For the sauce: 4 tbsp mayonnaise, 1 tbsp key lime juice, 1 tsp hot sauce

Method

  1. Pound the conch with a mallet until it gives, then chop it as fine as you can. Tough conch makes rubbery fritters.
  2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
  3. Beat the egg into the milk, pour into the dry mix and stir to a thick batter.
  4. Fold in the conch, onion, pepper, spring onion, garlic and scotch bonnet. Rest 15 minutes.
  5. Heat the oil to 180C. Drop heaped tablespoons of batter in and fry 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until deep gold.
  6. Drain on paper. Stir the mayonnaise, lime juice and hot sauce together and serve alongside.

Tip from the editors. Rest the batter before frying. It hydrates the flour and stops the fritters splitting open in the oil.

Where to eat conch fritters

Conch fritters in Key West

The Conch Shack ★ 4.2

Seafood$duval-streetSun-Thu 11:00-23:00; Fri-Sat 11:00-00:00Until 23:00 weeknights, 00:00 Fri-Sat

The Conch Shack fries conch fritters towards midnight at weekends, a sidewalk window on lower Duval Street feeding Key West drinkers between bars.

Try: Cracked conch with key lime aioli

Tip: There is no dining room, just the sidewalk ledge; weekend hours stretch towards midnight for the bar crowd.

118 Duval St, Key West, FL 33040

Conch Republic Seafood Company ★ 4.1

Seafood$$historic-seaportDaily 11:30-21:30

Conch Republic Seafood Company fills the old Singleton fish house on Key West's seaport with peel-and-eat pink shrimp, conch chowder and a long raw bar.

Signature: Key West pink shrimp, Conch chowder

Order: Peel-and-eat Key West pink shrimp

Tip: The original Singleton ice-plant floor and sign are still in place; sit at the harbour rail for the shrimp-dock view.

631 Greene Street, Key West, FL 33040

Louie's Backyard ★ 4.7

New American$$$$casa-marinaLunch daily 11:30-14:30; dinner daily 17:00-21:00

Louie's Backyard stacks oceanfront decks above the Atlantic at Waddell Avenue in Key West, serving island fare with the Afterdeck bar right on the water.

Order: Conch fritters on the Afterdeck, then the daily catch upstairs

Tip: The Afterdeck pours until late even when the dining room is booked out; Louie's takes its holiday in September.

700 Waddell Avenue, Key West, FL 33040 Book →

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