Fish and Seafood Highlight Keys Cuisine
FLORIDA KEYS — Stretching 125 miles into blue water, the Florida Keys island chain offers an indigenous cuisine that centers on savory fish and seafood dishes. In fact, fish and seafood feature on nearly every Keys restaurant menu.
Among the favorites is Key West pink shrimp, a delicacy generally considered sweeter than other types of shrimp. Whether sautéed in scampi, battered and fried, piled atop salad or pasta, or simply steamed and served with cocktail or mustard sauce, Key West pinks rank among the most popular of the Keys’ “natural resources.”
The mollusk conch (pronounced konk) is served in mouthwatering dishes like lime-dressed salad, chewy deep-fried fritters and spicy chowder. Conch chowder can either be tomato-based or white, but don’t expect to find any consistency of recipes from one restaurant to another; Keys eateries pride themselves on creating unique interpretations of classic dishes.
Conch also represents far more than food. Keys residents admired the mollusk’s tough, hardy nature so much that they adopted its name for themselves. Today, conch is no longer fished in the Keys, but the word “Conch” refers to someone born in the island chain, which is affectionately known as the Conch Republic.
Stone crabs, renowned for their sweet and succulent meat, also are a popular delicacy. Because nearly all of the crab’s meat is contained in its claws, these are the only portions of the animal that are harvested.
Once the claws are removed, the crab is returned to the sea where, over the course of up to two years, the claws regenerate. For this reason, stone crabs are considered a renewable resource — and the Florida Keys are responsible for a large percentage of the state’s overall harvest.
Stone crab claws are most commonly served warm with drawn butter or chilled with mustard sauce. The meat of the claws also can be used in crab cakes, fritters and other tempting dishes. Florida’s stone crab season runs from Oct. 15 to May 15 annually.
Unlike stone crabs, lobsters found in the Keys are clawless. Known as spiny lobsters, they offer remarkably tender meat. Local restaurants often serve them steamed or boiled with drawn butter. Alternately, their meat might be made into salad or served with exotic sauces. Lobster season runs from Aug. 6 to March 31 each year.
Yellowtail snapper, hog snapper, mutton snapper, grouper and mahi-mahi are just a few of the Keys’ scale fish preferred by chefs. At restaurants throughout the island chain, diners can find sautéed yellowtail or snapper with a variety of sauces and side dishes, along with fried grouper or mahi-mahi sandwiches, broiled or blackened fish entrees and much more.
Hungry for authentic Florida Keys fish and seafood? Check out local restaurant listings and other foodie-friendly resources at fla-keys.com/food-drink/.
