1# Caribbean dish boundaries and pivots
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 3Scotch bonnet -> habanero is often the closest accessible substitute, but habanero is not identical. Generic red pepper flakes are a pivot away from the fruitiness.
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 5Allspice 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.
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 7Culantro 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.
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 9Jerk 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.
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11Rice 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.
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13If the user lacks the island-specific aromatics, steer toward a dish that fits what they have instead of making one flattened "Caribbean" approximation.