AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums About Belize Culture Food, Drinks & Recipes EATING CONCH

just heard a strange tale from some returning travelers. they said they were walking on the beach and some local conch fishermen were cleaning their catch. the fishermen showed them the proper way to crack the shells and remove the meat. they proceeded to remove a long clear part of the meat, about 6 inches long, and eat it right there on the beach. they offered the group some. well my friends passed but another women decided to try it out as she said that she enjoyed sushi. she said it was very very salty and it seemed to wiggle down her throat. i am usually game to try anything but i don't think i could eat that. has anyone ever heard of such a thing like that???? i am still wondering what "part" that could be. has anyone out there ever eaten this??? i have a niece that is a marine biologist - i will test her knowledge on the subject. professor, are you still out there?
gay

...true or not, but...

During an identical experience in Jamaica, some fishermen explained to my handsome hubby & I on our wedding day that that way masculine part "puts the lead in your pencil".

Yepper!

K.

so kimbe, is this a testimonial? in light of that, i still don't think i could get david to eat it. he would probably say his pencil is sharp enough!!! i have been told that conch soup will make you have lots and lots of babies. next trip i will really push the cerviche and fritters. lol.
gay

what's up Kim? Been hiding? You game for a second go round of Belize this November? I'll have the stools open and waiting at BC's! Take care.

-Robert

i have caught 'em and cleaned 'em and eaten them straight from the shell and can't remember it wiggling down my throat. Neither is is salty. It is mild, slightly sweet and firm - almost aldente.

LOL, never put anything in your mouth before identifying it.

They supposedly like to eat the ummm...male sexual organ of the conch because it's supposed to be some kind of sexual enhancer.

A myth I'm sure, just like eating raw oysters.

The guys love to spin that yarn with the tourist girls, and watch the reactions on their faces. LOL

My fishing guide, Jose Gonzales, father who is 99 now has lived on the island for most of his life except for a few years when he lived in Europe with a family that has many ties to Belize. Anyway, while living in Europe he developed the custom of greeting people with the kiss on the cheek, as many Europeans do. Seeing him do this often in Belize I did not think it strange that people refered to him as "Pecker" Gonzales, ie. kiss - peck on the cheek. After a number of years, Jose set me straight, gave me the "hard" facts, informing me that Pecker ate one of those stringy conch things almost every morning of his life. He married last year his 12th wife and they are having his 35th child next month.

I won't bore you or stick you with too many of these stories, but there is another San Pedrono that got his current nick name thanks to conch. He is from the Perez family. You "new-comers" probaly know him as PP. Those of us who knew him years ago refered to him as Splint Perez. Splint did his time in the BDF (Belize Defense Force) as a medical corpsman where he developed his skills, one of his better being putting splints on broken bones. That is how I mistakingly thought he got the nick name
"Splint" until one of his former girlfriends informed me that he was born with the dreaded erectile disfunctional desease. Not having Viagra available at that time, Splint used his ingenutiy and put his medical training to good use. Well after his stint in the BDF, he began to look for work and ended up being a fisherman primarly fishing for conch. After his first 6 months of conch fishing, his fellow fisherman began calling him PP. Having the advantage of a Belize education, they drew on their Latin mythology and re-named Splint Priapus Perez or PP for short. Now for those of you educated in the US public school system, if you do not get this, look up the Greek God Priapus in the dictionary.

warren, these are priceless. thanks

LOL @ bywarren. :-)

Got any oyster stories?