SAN IGNACIO - So this week, Tom and I learned how to survive on a deserted island! We also learned how to survive incompetent dive operators, but that is another story.

Opening a conch. So a conch (pronounced 'konk') is a snail that, when sauteed, tastes like a cross between a pork chop and a fish fillet.  Sounds gross, but they're pretty tasty!

First you  get a conch from a seagrass bed or where ever. It looks like this.



Next you make an opening just behind the first row of pointies in the shell, and loosen the conch with a butter knife.  (Thanks Knute for the demonstration!)



Then you pull it out! Easy!  The hardest part is getting the slime off your fingers afterwards.



This is the part you eat... just trim off the brown covering from the white meat.



Here's the parts you DON'T eat!! Mmmmm.... conch guts. That gets thrown to the rays who cruise the shallows looking for snacks.




What do you enjoy with your conch steak? How bout a tasty coconut? Tom was my personal coconut fetcher. First you find a brown coconut that sounds like it has water inside.  There weren't many coconuts on the island we visited.



Then you find a big metal stake in the ground, and use it to pry off the husk.



Next you use your handy dandy coral hammer to knock the coconut.  The idea is to hold the coconut aiming the three 'eyes' toward the ground, and strike it around the top.



And voila! 



You can grind the meat and soak it in hot water to prepare coconut milk for your fish curry.  Or just eat it plain.  Just dont eat too much cause there's lots of fiber in that there coconut! Next week: how to fix gibnut, the Belizean rodent delicacy!

 

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