As many of you know, I was fortunate in attending Taste of the Caribbean June 12-14, 2009. It was wonderful. Held at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in conjunction with the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association and Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Taste of the Caribbean featured two days of workshops, tasting, demonstrations and competition which culminated with the announcement of the winners at the final dinner celebration.

These three photos by Bill Cancellare, Jr. capture the excitement in the air. Fourteen different countries competed. In future posts, I’ll feature all sorts of photos from the winners as well as other competitors as they all deserve mention.
In our top photo Paul Peterson, St/Maarten/St.Martin, was named “Bartender of the Year.” Next is the “Highest Scoring Team,” from Trinidad and Tobago, comprised of Bernard Long, Sabrina Rosales, Keirha Forde, Lennox Scott, Avanelle James and Ryan Newallo.
Top honors to “Chef of the Year,” went to Glendon Carty of Anguilla.
The “Pastry Chef of the Year,” went to Alberto Febo from Puerto Rico. (sorry no photo at this time).
There were gold, silver and bronze in many categories. If any of you are interested, let me know and I’ll post them all. There was so much talent, I’m working on posts of the various creations along with the chefs and bartenders who contributed.
These teams were given a mystery basket with 19 different products and they had to use all of them to create their dishes. It was quite a challenge. The rules were daunting and they all came through.
In addition to the sponsors listed above, a thank you must go to the additional sponsors: Albert Uster Imports, Bahama Breeze, Boneworks Culinarte, Buckhead Beef, Certified Angus Beef, Dowman Design, Foster’s Wine Estates of America, Halperns Purveyors of Steak & Seafood, U.S.Meat Export Federation, If I’ve missed someone, I apologize.
Watch for more to come with lots of shots of food.

Maralyn D. Hill, President
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success Log Global Log

“Success” was Finalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards