Lambi souse

Ingredients

Conch

• 1 kgconch meat
• cleaned
• juice of 4 limes
• 2 tablespoonssalt, for cleaning
• water, for boiling

The souse

• juice of 8 limes
• or a mixture of lime and vinegar
• 2onions, sliced very thin
• 2cucumbers, diced small
• 3spring onions, sliced
• 2scotch bonnet peppers
• finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• a handful of parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• black pepper
• a little of the cooking water

Sometimes added

• 1sweet pepper, diced
• 1tomato, diced
• a pinch of sugar

To serve

• chilled in bowls or cups
• with crackers or bread
• at Fish Friday
• at a beach lime

Directions

1. Reduce it if you want it milder. Scotch bonnets are extremely hot. Wash hands, boards and knives thoroughly. Rinse the conch meat in cold water. Trim off all the dark outer skin. Cut away the hard orange operculum. Cut away any hard or discoloured parts. Cleaning it properly takes real work. Rub the meat hard all over with salt. Add lime juice and rub it again.
2. Salt and lime cut the slippery coating. Work it firmly rather than gently. Rinse it thoroughly in cold water. Repeat it until it is no longer slippery. Put the conch into a large deep pot. Cover it well with cold water. Add a little salt to the water.
3. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Cooking it takes over an hour. Let it simmer for about seventy minutes. Skim off any of the foam that rises. Judging the conch takes a test.
4. Cut a piece off and bite into it. It should be tender right through. Set aside a cup of the cooking water. Drain the conch and let it cool. Or plunge it straight into cold water. Warm conch in lime keeps cooking. Cool it completely before dressing it.
5. Cut the cooled conch into small pieces. Slice it thinly across the grain. Thin slices take the dressing better. Cut it smaller than feels necessary. Slice the onions as thinly as you can. Dice the cucumbers up quite small. Slice the spring onions finely.
6. Chop the scotch bonnets very finely. Peel it if the skin is thick or bitter. Dice it about the size of the conch pieces. Squeeze all the lime juice into a large bowl. Add the crushed garlic in with it.
7. Add the salt and black pepper. Whisk it all together thoroughly. Add the cut conch to the bowl. Add the onion, cucumber and spring onion. Add the chopped scotch bonnets. Add the chopped fresh parsley. Toss it all together thoroughly. Add a little of the cooking water. Souse should be wet rather than dry.
8. Add a pinch of sugar if it is too sharp. Cover the bowl and refrigerate it. Give it at least three full hours. Spoon it into bowls or paper cups. Serve crackers or bread alongside. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Souse is a Caribbean way of dressing cooked meat by steeping it cold in a sharp liquid of lime, onion, cucumber and pepper; pig foot souse is the best known version, chicken foot souse is made too, and conch souse is the seafood one, all using the same dressing.
• The conch must be completely cool before it goes into the lime, since warm conch keeps cooking in the acid and turns tough and stringy; boil it for about seventy minutes and test by biting a piece, aiming for tender but still firm, since undercooked is chewy and overcooked goes soft and stringy.
• Queen conch has been heavily overfished with populations declining across the Caribbean and is listed on CITES Appendix Two; Grenada manages its fishery with minimum sizes and seasons, and the atlas records that rather than passing over it.

Substitutions

• A mixture of lime juice and vinegar stands in where limes are scarce.
• A little of the conch cooking water softens the fierce sharpness of pure lime.

Variations

• Sweet pepper or diced tomato are added in some versions.
• The heat varies enormously, and Grenadian souse runs genuinely hot.
• It is sold in paper cups at weekend stands and beach limes.

History

Queen conch pickled in lime, onion, cucumber and pepper, sold at weekend stands and beach limes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lambi souse?

Lambi souse is a street food from Grenada: conch pickled with lime, cucumber, hot pepper; Fish Friday favorite. Queen conch pickled in lime, onion, cucumber and pepper, sold at weekend stands and beach limes.

How long does Lambi souse take to make?

Lambi souse takes 40 minutes plus chilling of preparation and 1 hour 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Lambi souse?

Yes, within limits. A mixture of lime juice and vinegar stands in where limes are scarce. A little of the conch cooking water softens the fierce sharpness of pure lime.

What is the most important thing to get right in Lambi souse?

Salt and lime cut the slippery coating. Work it firmly rather than gently. Rinse it thoroughly in cold water. Repeat it until it is no longer slippery. Put the conch into a large deep pot. Cover it well with cold water. Add a little salt to the water.