Grand Life Winter:Spring 2023 - Flipbook - Page 16
While conch salad, conch fritters, panny
cakes and other fresh seafood dishes are
easy to find throughout West End, Shabo's
and Sherry's is the only conch salad stand in
the entire Bahamas that serves pickled conch
salad.
“Our business started about 40 years ago,
but I took it up a notch.” noted Sherry, who
initially expanded the business by making
mobile deliveries. “I started selling conch
salad out of my car, and then I started selling
fried snapper, banana and coconut
pancakes, cracked lobster, and garlic blue
crabs. I would go around Freeport selling
[the dishes], and I would then come home
and start experimenting.”
Sherry notes that she always liked trying new
things. She tried a little of this, a little of
that, and they now have a menu that includes
pickled conch salad, pickled shrimp, pickled
lobster as well as traditional conch salad,
scorch conch, tropical conch salad, and even
a pickled tropical salad that includes fresh
mango and pineapple.
The pickled conch salad recipe is a carefully
guarded secret that Sherry makes by hand.
When asked if she can give any hints about
what's in her original blend, she simply
laughs. While she won’t give any clues about
the mix, she notes that she initially drew
inspiration from the flavors of pickled
sausages. Eventually, she developed her own
pickling brine mixture that infuses the conch
with a bright red hue and spicy flavor.
Shabo's and Sherry's conch salad stand is
located
on the seaside of West End and
is easily identifiable by the colorful tables
and brightly painted wooden building. The
vibrant conch salad is so beloved that two of
Sherry's close friends even traveled to the
island to take their wedding photos in front
of the iconic building.
Shabo's and Sherry's is open daily, and also
offers grilled items on the menu. Sherry also
notes that they plan to expand to offer even
more options, very soon.
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Grand Life Magazine