Book excerpt: A delicious demonstration of the new directions into which Caribbean cooking is now moving. Modern Caribbean Cuisine demonstrates the new directions into which Caribbean cooking is now moving. While influences from all over the world have been assimilated, an essential integrity remains, and these recipes could only have come from the islands of the Caribbean. Fusion has long been a feature of Caribbean cuisine: traditional recipes represent a rich inheritance from African, Indian, and European ancestors. In this collection, Wendy Rahamut emphasizes the importance of using indigenous ingredients to create a “fresher, tastier, spicy and delicious cuisine.” The result is a celebration of Caribbean flavors as they are today. Modern Caribbean Cuisine takes us on a gastronomic reverie—a food fusion experience of: mouthwatering snacks and appetizers; spicy and hearty soups; a wide variety of attractive salads; exciting ways of preparing local seafood ; traditional and modern meat and poultry recipes; an imaginative collection of rice recipes; wonderful vegetable preparations; spectacularly exotic desserts; scrumptious cake and bread recipes; piquant hot sauces and condiments. Each section of the book features a range of easy-to-follow recipes, illustrated with enticing photography by Michael Bonaparte, and is introduced with a useful short discussion of the role and importance of the various ingredients and their place in Caribbean kitchens.