Caribbean dish boundaries and pivots

Scotch bonnet -> habanero is often the closest accessible substitute, but habanero is not identical. Generic red pepper flakes are a pivot away from the fruitiness.

Allspice is load-bearing for Jamaican jerk, but not for every Caribbean dish. Don't make pimento the price of entry for Puerto Rican, Haitian, Trinidadian, or Guyanese food.

Culantro and cilantro overlap but are not the same. Culantro is stronger and common in Spanish-Caribbean cooking; cilantro can be a practical approximation, but name the shift.

Jerk needs smoke, chile, thyme, allspice/pimento, and time. A quick grilled chicken with jerk-ish seasoning can taste good, but label it as an approximation.

Rice and peas is not the same dish everywhere. Jamaican coconut rice and peas, Cuban congrí/moros, Puerto Rican arroz con gandules, and Haitian diri kole each have their own logic.

If the user lacks the island-specific aromatics, steer toward a dish that fits what they have instead of making one flattened "Caribbean" approximation.