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Photo by Walter P. Berry Jr.
Dwain Baston, Proprietor. |
A delicious culinary dish in The Bahamas is “conch salad.” Its main ingredient is the raw diced flesh from spiral-shaped conch shells. Many Bahamans swear that fresh conch has the same amazing powers as Viagra. Unfortunately, most restaurants find it impractical to serve conch salad properly – using absolutely fresh meat served minutes after being pulled from the mollusk’s lovely shell.
That’s how “Tall Boy” makes it.
The easy-going, 6-foot-6 Bahaman owns and operates what’s known as a “conch store” in a working-class section of Nassau Harbor. “You have to come to a local place for fresh conch,” said Tall Boy, 40, who seldom goes by his real name: Dwain Baston.
“Everybody calls me ‘Tall Boy,’” he said, taking a break from preparing conch salads early one evening.
Besides operating his eatery, Tall Boy dives for conchs that thrive in Bahamian waters at depths of 30 to 40 feet. The excess catch is sold to wholesalers. From his window’s counter, Tall Boy deftly dices the ingredients with a long knife, piling them into small paper bowls. Servings cost $8 apiece.
In a typical salad, diced white conch meat is mixed with bits of tomatoes, onions, and green peppers. The colorful concoction is smothered in lemon juice or a mix of lemon and orange juice.
Tall Boy’s eatery is among dozens of sturdy wood-framed outlets with small kitchens lining the dock. Nestled at the foot of a slender graceful bridge, the eateries face a crowded sidewalk and a street of slow-moving cars. Stools and small tables are set up by customer windows. Right behind his outlet, Tall Boy’s fishing boat is tied up with other vessels.
Many customers of the dockside establishments work at one of The Bahamas’ biggest employers – the Atlantis Hotel. The castle-like resort stands out on the skyline, less than a mile away, framed by the soaring bridge and its stately columns. Returning to their Nassau homes, many of some of the 10,000 workers stop at their favorite eatery for food and conversation.
Julie Rolle, a 43-year-old telephone operator, recently visited Tall Boy’s store with sons Jamahl, 11, and Fredrico, 12. When another visitor praised the conch salad, she chimed in, “I’m telling you (it’s good). Thank you!” Compared to what restaurants serve, “It’s better and cheaper, definitely!” she exclaimed. Around the Rolle family, scraps of conversation and thumping Caribbean music filled the air that smelled pleasantly of the harbor and fresh seafood.
When he’s not serving up to 150 customers a day, Tall Boy goes on fishing trips in a 40-foot boat he co-owns. He and four other men spend two days going to and from the fishing area, diving for the delicious mollusks. Tall Boy and another diver poke through sea grass for the conchs, breathing through umbilical style cords running to a gasoline-powered air compressor aboard the fishing boat.
“We go on productive grounds, like Great Bahamas Bank, and we bring in like 4,000 to 5,000 conchs in two days’ time,” he said. The bank is located around Andros Island, the biggest island in The Bahamian archipelago.
Accidents are rare, says Tall Boy, a certified diver who started fishing right out of high school. A few years into his career, however, some spilled gasoline ignited. “I lost the boat. It burned down to the water,” he said. Nodding toward an arm covered with horrible scars, he noted matter-of-factly, “I was burned over three-quarters of my body.”
Doctors told him he needed three years to fully recuperate. “I recuperated in three months, because I was determined,” said the former high school athlete, a high jumper and a long jumper. He had a few rough years, but eventually he bought another boat, using savings from his conch store and from hiring out as a fishing captain.
In a country where the annual per capita income is about $18,000, Tall Boy makes a good living for his wife and their two children. The fishing business grosses $150,000 to $200,000 per year, he said.
“Right out of high school, I wanted to be a policeman. Then I heard what fishermen make.” |
