PROVIDENCIALES, Turks & Caicos Islands – The Second Annual Turks & Caicos Conch Festival drew more than 1,500 people to its seaside Blue Hills location this past weekend, as locals and tourists alike feasted on more than 30 conch-based dishes from 18 restaurants.
In addition to getting their fill of conch, the crowd witnessed the launching of a newly-built Caicos Conch Sloop, participated in conch blowing and other cultural contests, saw a local resident get $10,000 richer (thanks to the Rotary Club), delighted to visits from Santa Claus and Sesame Street characters, enjoyed live music from Blue Hills-based entertainers, and generally soaked up the fun and atmosphere of this unique event that exemplifies all that is great about Turks & Caicos.
“It was a great day that surpassed our expectations on all counts. The number of restaurant participants, the crowd, the activities, the sponsors – the Festival has really begun to take root in the community and we’re looking forward to seeing it grow into a marquee event for the country,” said Conch Festival president, Mike Sottak. “We are very appreciative of all the support we received for this very worthwhile cause. We couldn’t have done it without contributions from the TCI government and more than 75 local businesses, individuals and organizations. They can all take great pride in making this a first-class event that celebrates an integral part of our country’s culture, heritage and economy, in the historic and fitting setting of Blue Hills.”
‘Conch-etition’ Results
One of the highlights of the Conch Festival was the crowning of the 2005 grand champions in the conch tasting ‘conch-etition’ that showcased a wide range of talents and creative uses of conch: from pizza, to tacos, to spring rolls to ‘Conch Saint Jacques’; prepared with ginger, curry, jerk sauce and Creole style; and offered as traditional favorites chowder, salad, fritters and cracked.
Hole in the Wall, a Blue Hills resident-owned restaurant, impressed the international field of judges with its secret conch chowder recipe. The popular eatery, which entered multiple categories, was cited as Best Conch Chowder, and the judges were so impressed they bestowed the prestigious Best in Festival Award on the talented chefs as well.
Beaches Resort was a triple winner, taking home top prizes in the Salad and Specialty categories and coming in second place in the Chowder competition. Beaches unseated last year’s Salad champion, Captain Robbie, who picked up the third place trophy in this category.
Grace’s Cottage won two trophies, second place in Salad and third in Chowder. Simba picked up second place in the Specialty category, with host Three Queen’s taking third in that competition.
Following is a complete list of winners and participants: Best in Festival: Hole in the Wall; Best Conch Specialty Dish: Beaches (Jerked Conch); Second Place: Simba (Conch Madaline); Third Place: Three Queens (Conch Kebobs); Best Conch Salad: Beaches; Second Place: Grace’s Cottage (Point Grace); Third Place: Captain Robbie; Best Conch Chowder: Hole in the Wall; Second Place: Beaches; Third Place: Grace’s Cottage (Point Grace).
All the winning restaurants received beautiful, handcrafted trophies designed by Blue Hills resident Stanford Handfield and presented by His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Richard Tauwhare. The first place winner in each category also received $300 cash.
This year’s winners were selected by an international panel of judges that included: Dean Max, chef/owner of 3030 Ocean in Fort Lauderdale and author of A Life by the Sea, a cookbook that helps simplify the mystery of seafood cooking; Thomas Buckley, head chef at Nobu in South Beach, Miami, and well known cooking competition judge; Richard Rostron, head culinary instructor at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and professional personal chef recently profiled in The Miami Herald; Pierrik Marziou, owner/chef of Caicos Café, a local restaurant that has established an international reputation; and Mario “Menno” Plooij, a 20-year culinary industry veteran and frequent visitor to Turks & Caicos who has managed restaurants in South Africa, Holland and Belgium.
“It was an amazing experience and I can’t say enough about how impressed the judges were with the creativity and talent from all the restaurants. Each category was a very difficult and competitive decision for us, but in the end there was just something special about Hole in the Wall’s chowder that made them really stand out,” said Dean Max, owner/chef of 3030 Ocean Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, one of the five international judges on hand for the competition. “We’d all like to congratulate the chefs of the Turks & Caicos for delighting and surprising us with the incredible versatility of conch.”
Traditional Sloop Launch
Among the other highlights of the event was the launching of Mobile Enforcer, a 21-foot Caicos Conch Sloop, sponsored by Cable & Wireless, and designed and built here in Turks & Caicos by master boatbuilder, Reverend Samuel Goldston Williams of North Caicos. This Sloop is the first of six being built for the community under the auspices of the TCI Maritime Heritage Federation, a non-profit organization based in Providenciales. The sponsored Sloops will be used for experiential education programs and to teach children to sail in each island in the archipelago.
“This was one of the best days I’ve had in Provo in a long time,” said Ms. Katya Brightwell, educational program officer for the TCI Maritime Heritage Federation, who was at the event to help oversee the launching of the sloop. “It was great to see so many different aspects of Turks & Caicos come together in a fun and delicious way – from boat building to conch blowing to Junkanoo to conch feasting, this event had something for everyone.”
Additional Event Highlights
The Rotary Club of Providenciales picked a lucky winner for its annual Pot o’ Gold drawing; Local resident, Mary Higgs, received a personal call from the Governor informing her she was the recipient of $10,000 cash; Lee Forbes and the Force entertained the crowd with their unique blend of island style music, and then when things seemed like they just might be slowing down, the TCI Junakanoo stormed the venue with its energetic rush of excitement – twice! For the children, the Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster and Santa Claus made special appearances, handing out goodies and receiving smiles, cheers and hugs. TCI Director of Culture, David Bowen, presided over a full range of cultural activities for the young and old, with the conch- blowing contest proving to be the most entertaining. The large- lung’ed participant in the adult competition won $100 cash prize for his unfathomable blow of 45 seconds. The younger conch blower walked away with a brand new red bike. Power 92FM was on site acting as master of ceremonies for the event.
The 2005 Conch Festival was supported by: Gilley Enterprises/Discount Liquors and The TCI Tourist Board, who were both Platinum-level sponsors. In addition, the following organizations provided Gold- level sponsorship in support of the event: Cable & Wireless, Caicos Construction, Cairsea, CBMS, First Caribbean International Bank, Graceway/IGA, Grace Bay Club, Power 92.5 FM, Swann & Swann Attorneys, The Palms, The Sands, Tasty Temptation, Turks & Caicos Hotel & Tourism Association, Western Union and Wired Island.
2005 Conch Festival Conch-etition Participants
In addition to the generosity of our sponsors, the Conch Festival Committee applauds the imagination, talent and dedication of all of the chefs and restaurants that participated in this year’s conch tasting competition, helping make the Festival a worthy culinary competition as well as an important cultural event.
This year’s participants in alphabetical order are listed along with the dishes they entered in the conch-tasting competition: 1. Anacoana – Conch Ceviche; 2. Beaches – Conch Chowder, Conch Salad, Jerked Conch; 3. Bella Luna – Conch Salad, Conch Fritters; 4. Bonnies – Conch Chowder, Conch Fritters, Conch Salad; 5. Captain Robbie – Conch Salad; 6. Danny Buoy’s – Conch Saint Jacque; 7. Ewonka Selver – Ginger Conch; 8. Gourmet Goods Conch Sausage, Conch Sushi; 9. Grace’s Cottage – Conch Fritters, Conch Chowder, Conch Salad; 10. Hemingway’s – Conch Chowder, Conch Tacos; 11. Hole in the Wall – Conch Chowder, Curry Conch, Jerked Conch; 12.Magnolia – Conch Spring Rolls; 13. Mango Reef – Conch Chowder, Conch Creole, Conch Fritters; 14. Pizza Pizza – Conch Pizza; 15. Simba – Conch Chowder, Conch Madaline; 16. Tasty Temptation – Conch Chowder; 17. TCI Mini Golf- Jerked Conch; 18. Three Queens – Conch Kebobs.
