The president of the Caribbean Culinary Federation, Andres Neiderhauser, visited Santo Domingo last week to promote participation in the “Taste of the Caribbean” with Dominican chefs and restaurant owners. The contest is being organized by the Caribbean Hotel Association and will be held at the El Conquistador Resort & Casino in Puerto Rico on 17-21 September 1996. It will gather those involved in the restaurant and hotel industries. Participating in a meeting called for the event were the Sheraton, Jaragua, Capella, Dominican Fiesta hotels, and the Don Pedro, Maniquí, La Bricciola, Pappalapasta, Vesuvio, Samurai and El Chef restaurants. Also taking part in the promotion were the executive chef of the Half Moon Golf, Tennis & Beach Club in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Luis Cruz and Antonio Estrella from the Dominican Fiesta and Capella hotels.
The meeting in Santo Domingo was organized by Pedro Garrido, executive director of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurantes (Asonahores) and its restaurant director, Nelson Pérez Neiderhauser, who pointed out that many tourists come to enjoy Dominican cooking. He encouraged chefs to participate in the creation of an authentic range of Caribbean dishes, like the French have done for their food. “We possibly have the most interesting forms of cooking in the world,” he said, stressing the influence the many cultures of the Caribbean have on the region’s food.