Conche Fritters

We’ve covered Key Lime Pie and we’ve covered Gator Bites so far in the blog. Now onto the third strictly food segment: Conche Fritters. Conche are a type of shell with a fleshy inside, which in turn is boiled, then mashed up with some vegetables, dipped in batter and then deep fried. Served with a tomato & paprika heavy sauce, these are heavenly little snacks perfect to serve with a couple of drinks. You could find them quite easily in key west, and I also found a few places in Miami that served them. The taste is a little difficult to describe – the flesh is quite a sweet meat, with the sweetness reduced with the addition of vegetables and batter. Delicious. Best conche fritters we had were at a place called Finnegan’s on Duval St, purely for overall taste. However, that just being suited to my pallet, I should probably also mention another place (whose name escapes me) on Caroline St (both in Key West) and just across the road from Pepe’s Café (Key Lime Pie) in a little shanty set up, which looks far from glamorous. They serve up a generous helping for a small price whilst you overlook Caroline St. The chef here proclaimed to have a 50/50 conche-to-vegetable ratio, and they weren’t quite as sweet. The batter was also a far simpler batter, leaving the fritter itself to do the work. Only a close second, but both deserve a mention.

Day Two in the Keys

So out and about, walking around Duval St on a Monday night. Taking it all in, it is very much a chilled out place, although the streets come to life once the sun goes down. The closer you are towards the marina at the end of Duval St, the closer you are to the action, so it seemingly tapers off the further you walk down.

Some dinner was had (an entire post to Conche Fritters is a must read), some jumbo sized cocktails were consumed and then we headed home.

Waking up feeling strangely fine, we organised some stuff for day three (Wednesday) and then spent time at the National Park beach, Fort Zachory Taylor. A couple of little rock formations to swim out to, and the sun shining long and hard. Prior to the swim, we got our tourist on and headed to the landmark that shows the southern most point on continental USA. How it's still continental USA when you've travelled over a good 15 islands to get there is still beyond me, but nonetheless, obligatory photo was taken (and attached).

Tues night, again we hit up Duval St and some of the various nightspots. Drinking is very much a way of life down in the keys. Not only is drinking allowed on the streets, it is encouraged. They serve you in plastic cups and encourage you to top up your drink before you leave the bars. Some more conche fritters were eaten, and due to it being a Tuesday, and also considering that we had to wake up early for our Ultimate Adventure on the Wednesday, we headed home around 12:30.