Martha Stewart visits Abaco and samples Bahamian conch fritters

Martha Stewart has a blog and she talked about Abaco and showed thirty something pictures including the flight over. I happened to catch it because I have a link to her blog on my site, My Carolina Kitchen, and saw in the headlines that she mentioned Abaco.

It's titled it My first day on the island of Abaco, a quiet and friendly place.

She described Abaco as a very quiet, nothing-to-do kind of place and said she had a surprisingly nice time there. She was a guest of friends of hers, the Dowdle family. She went deep sea fishing, bone fishing, wild pig hunting, swam in the blue hole and visited Green Turtle Cay.

There are photos of Ruby Clarke, the cook who promised to write all of her recipes down so Jimmy (Martha's host) could create a cookbook for prosperity. There is also a picture of her with Freeland, the driver. There are numerous photos of the flight over and the beautiful clear waters of Abaco from the air and nice sunset pictures.

While Martha was there, she sampled Conch Fritters, which she loved, prepared for her by Ruby Clarke, a local Bahamian. Conch Fritters are a local specialty. The fritters are a conch and flour batter seasoned with onions, celery, green bell pepper, (these three vegetables are called the “trinity” in Creole cuisine), tomato paste, thyme and baking powder and deep fried and served typically with a red cocktail sauce flavored with horseradish and hot sauce.

I have two excellent recipe sources for Conch Fritters. One is in Gourmet Bahamian Cooking by Marie Mendelson and the other is from Rudy’s Place in Elbow Cay (sadly now closed and missed by all). Rudy’s recipe is in A Guide and History of Hope Town by Steve Dodge & Vernon Malone, 1990 version, and Gourmet Bahamian Cooking is still in print.

Now Martha knows the secret to Abaco, as all of us do that have visited. Get sand in your shoes and you will return. Abaco lovers such as myself have kept this wonderful place our little secret paradise. Thank you Martha for visiting and finding it the quiet, laid back and friendly place that it truly is. As the Bahamians say, "Martha's done reached."

To read more, here's the link to her blog:

The Martha Stewart Blog