(Ed. note: Make it to the end for the recipe. It'll pay off.)
Like most people, I love a challenge. I especially like them when they're related to food. That's why I had so much fun when I was asked to cater a party for about 100 people.
OK, I can handle that. It's in Canada. I can handle that too. The theme is Caribbean. So far so good. The idea of fresh, clean island flavors begin swirling in my mind: citrus, seafood, sweet, spicy. Of course there has to be a twist: The folks hosting the party and the guest of honor do not like cilantro.
This is a constraint that is difficult to overcome. When I think of the Caribbean, I think of rum drinks and foods with heavy doses of cilantro. Good salsa almost always has cilantro. The flavor is unmistakably bright and unique and screams of steel drum bands and sand in your toes. Leaving it out seems wrong on many levels
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2009.