When we’re visiting Laura’s sister in Florida we like to indulge in two delicacies. The first is conch fritters. We’ll hit a tiki bar or local spot and order some at least once while we’re there. The other is Macy’s Fish Dip.
The only place we’ve seen it is one or two spots in Vero Beach and Fort Pierce. At $24 a pint it’s not only rare, but pricey. We only indulge maybe twice a year. We’ll get one pint to enjoy while we’re in Florida visiting Laura’s sister and one pint to take home.
There are other versions of Florida fish dip, but this is the one we prefer. Locals call it “smack”, short for smoked mackerel. I decided to see if I could make my own, and see how close I could come to replicating our favorite dip.
First off, a disclaimer…
I’ve seen so many posts about how people don’t want to wade through a long story just to get to the recipe. If that’s you, then please find another recipe. This post is less about the ingredients and procedures than about how I got there.
I started by looking online for smoked fish dip recipes. I found one on All Recipes that looked like it would be a good starting point. It had the following ingredients:
- 2 cups flaked smoked whitefish
- 4 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
- 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
- 4 drops hot pepper sauce, or to taste
- 3 drops Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
- 3 drops liquid smoke flavoring (Optional)
- 1 pinch seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
- cracked black pepper to taste
Old Bay is not something we use regularly, so I picked up some at the local marker. I also ordered liquid smoke online. The sticking point was the flaked smoked whitefish. What I could find was expensive and wasn’t necessarily smoked. I decided to improvise.
Since this was an experiment, I went with inexpensive tilapia. One of my chef friends gave me grief about using it, but I wasn’t going to waste really good fish on something that might not work. After all, many of the Florida versions used inferior fish like mullet and king fish. I couldn’t see how this would be any worse.
I wanted tender, flaky fish. I took a single piece and seasoned it with salt and pepper and a touch of Old Bay. I decided to use our air fryer to cook the fish. With it set at 425º I cooked the fish for 10 minutes and it came exactly like I wanted. Since this was a small, single piece of fish I used half of the ingredients listed, mixing everything together in bowl. I had pulled out a small food processor, but decided not to use it as I wanted the fish to retain some texture and integrity.
The fish dip turned out pretty well, but not nearly as good as Macy’s. It needed a bit more seasoning. On separate portions I tried adding Tobasco and more Old Bay, much like I did when I made my pimento cheese. Neither of these really worked. I added some more salt, too much, as it turned out.
And here’s where I learned a crucial step…
The fish was still a bit warm when I tried these variations. The texture wasn’t quite right and while good, it didn’t taste quite right. Chilling the mixture made everything fall into place. It still wasn’t quite there, but I was getting closer.
Attempt #2
I looked at the lid of the last pint of Macy’s I bought, and lo and behold, there were the ingredients.
About the only thing I was missing was the lime juice. Even though Macy’s has mayonnaise, I thought it made it too creamy. So here’s the ingredients line-up for Attempt #2.
- 1 piece of Tliapia
- 2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
- 3 drops Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
- 1 Tsp lime juice
- 1 pinch seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
- cracked black pepper to taste
Since I’d eliminated the liquid smoke I needed some other way to get that smoky flavor. Once again it was time to improvise. I took a deep plastic container and cut a circular hole in the lid that would fit my cocktail smoker.
This created a simple cloche smoker system. I found a small dish that fit the bottom perfectly. I decided to test the set up by smoking a piece of string cheese.
I left it smoking too long and it was a bit bitter. Even so, it was time for fish. I prepared the tilapia as I had before and cooked it in the air fryer the same way.
Using apple wood chips, I smoked the fish for about 90 seconds.
That worked perfectly. I mixed the smoked fish with the rest of the ingredients and let it chill. The result was not just good but damn good.
Next time I bring some Macy’s back from Florida I’m going to do a blind taste test with my own version. Will Macy’s come out on top? We’ll see.
Now, does anyone know where I can find conch locally?