Although Mac had not spent much time in the Pizzeria’s kitchen once the business was up and running, he had always made the conch fritter batter. Until we opened the Pizzeria, Conch fritters had not been offered in Bequia’s restaurants, Mac’s were definitely the first, and he guarded his recipe in a rather obsessive manner! The delicious fritters (originally called “Conch Macnuggets”) were extremely popular, and it was therefore important to ensure that we never ran out of the precious batter.
I had always been aware of the batter’s key ingredients, but the concoction was always mixed at the house, away from curious eyes. Mac would gather up diced conch meat, flavour peppers, ticky thyme, onions, garlic, eggs, lime juice and flour, and send the end result back in a white lard bucket. The batter was then shared out in smaller, more convenient containers, and refrigerated in the pizza prep table. Yes, I knew what went INTO the batter, but for several years it remained the one item we served at the Pizzeria that I had never made myself.
When Mac died suddenly in 1994 I was forced to deal with the Pizzeria alone, and the thought of coping with oven parts and refrigeration emergencies was quite daunting. Mac knew how to fix our equipment, he had learned how to install safety valves and compressors, but I didn’t have a clue how to make such important repairs! My job had always been the running of the restaurant, buying the supplies to cater to our customers and assuring they were seated and fed in a timely manner. I knew absolutely nothing about the maintenance side of the business, the fixing of equipment as well as the conch fritter batter had always been Mac’s contribution.
It was therefore an “oh shit!” moment when the kitchen staff informed me that we were almost out of conch fritter batter. The conch fritters were an important item on the menu, they pretty much flew out the kitchen doors they were so popular, and without Mac on hand to prepare the batter we had to learn how to make it ourselves. Well, I had been a restaurant cook for 16 years, and I already knew what went IN the batter, so how hard could it be?
Well, making that batter was harder than I thought. The blending of the ingredients was fairly easy, and I already knew how many eggs Mac had added to the conch mixture. I (along with my kitchen helper Keith) tried my best to replicate Mac’s batter, but the results were often dismal. Too much flour made the fritters “tight”, making them dry and rubbery. Too little flour made the mixture break up when added to the hot oil. Sometimes the batter was too salty, at other times too bland. We had to scrap some of the trial batters, others we managed to rescue by adding more eggs or lime juice. Making the conch fritter batter was not as easy as I thought it would be, it was difficult to get it “just right”.
I continued to run the Pizzeria for more than 20 years after Mac’s death, and in my opinion the conch fritters were never, EVER as good as his. The fritters were good, just not THAT good. Mac’s magic touch was Mac’s alone…..