Marty’s World-Famous Conch Salad

Marty’s World-Famous Conch Salad

By Katie Flanagan   May 17, 2021

If you’ve ever been to the Bahamas, you know that conch salad is a staple on every island. If you haven’t been to the Bahamas or enjoyed fresh conch salad yet, we recommend you add both to your to-do list! In the meantime, we’re bringing you the story of Martin Hudson, better known as “Marty,” in Harbour Island, Bahamas. He's a conch connoisseur serving up some of the world's best conch salad.

Marty owns and operates the local conch salad shack located on the west side of Harbour Island, on Bay Street.  His conch shack resides on a sandy lot with a waterfront view. The views at sunset are incomparable.

Marty was born and raised in Harbour Island. He was born across the street 44 years ago, “right around the corner from the conch shack” and is a real “Bay Street Boy.” He is a true local on the island.

Marty has been making conch salad on Bay Street for 12 years now and says, “The trick about all of this is that you really got to love what you do, that’s what makes you great at what you do.”  When we asked Marty how he knew how to properly portion all of the ingredients and seasonings he told us, “It’s all in the hands- if you taste this you know what I mean.”

There's no doubt Marty knows what he was doing!

Marty enjoys taking care of his customers at his “little spot”. He prepares the conch salad by first chopping up all of the onions, then the sweet peppers, followed by tomatoes. Next, the conch is cut and chopped into fine pieces. The conch is caught and removed from the water daily to ensure maximum freshness.  He then mixes it all up and sprinkles the perfect amount of salt in. He completes his conch salad with a generous amount of lime juice. He then packs the mixture into almost perfectly portioned cups. Lime juice is then added again to the cups. Marty likes to use sour oranges in his conch mix, however they hard to come by on the island, as they are more of a seasonal item. In place of actual sour orange when there is a shortage Marty uses some orange juice from a can. As Marty likes to say at this point, “Voilà!” and he hands the customer their conch salad made with a whole lot of island love!

“Now you’ve got yourself a great conch salad.”

Marty also makes a special habanero pepper mix for customers who like a little heat in their conch salad. A small dose of this habanero citrus mix will add just enough sweet heat to your fresh conch salad.

If you find yourself in Harbour Island and looking for not only a great conch salad, but a sunset view and warm island welcome, you’ll have to try Marty’s World-Famous Conch Salad Shack.

“It’s all in the love, you’ve got to love what you do.” – Martin Hudson “Marty”


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