We here at TravelPulse Canada try not to choose sides. I mean, there are a lot of great destinations around the world, and they’re all entitled to brag a bit. It’s awfully difficult to say for certain that country X is better than country Y or that this beach kicks sand in that beach’s face.

That’s kind of the dilemma I found myself in last night at a Cayman Islands Tourism event in Toronto. I sat down at my beautifully set table at the test kitchen at the LCBO store at Yonge and Summerhill and spotted a small sign that suggested that, for any photos or social media posts I put up, I use the hashtag “CulinaryCapitalOfTheCaribbean.”

And that’s where I swallowed hard.

Just 24 hours prior to the Cayman Islands event, your hard-working (sort of) correspondent had been at a Barbados Tourism/Travel Media Association of Canada event in another part of the city, where Bajan officials stood up and said THEY were the culinary capital of the Caribbean.

“Others have borrowed the title,” they said (and I’m paraphrasing here), “but we’re the real deal.”

The Barbados event was held at Street Shak on Queen West, a super-casual spot where we tasted fish sandwiches, fish cakes and jerk poutine. Delicious. The Wednesday night event for the Cayman Islands featured a top chef from The Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa and a James Beard Award-winning mixologist who has created cocktails for the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. Outstanding.

It’s probably not a fair comparison, so in the spirit of equality for all let’s just say they were both terrific.

The Cayman event was a beauty, featuring mixologist Charles Joly of Chicago (who loves the islands and visits whenever he can) and Seafire Executive Chef Massimo De Francesca, who lives in the Cayman Islands but is from Toronto and has worked at great restaurants across the city.

De Francesca put on a whiz-bang, wonderful show, serving up “Seven Mile Ahi” with such exotic touches as fennel pollen and Cayman sea salt, plus perfectly cooked Snapper with charred palm hearts, star fruit relish and guava glaze. Dessert was toasted white chocolate with coconut and mango gel, with a recipe that sounded only a little less complicated than Einstein’s theory of relativity. Okay, not really. But it’s probably not the sort of thing I’d whip on a Saturday night at home, especially if I’d sampled any of Joly’s cocktails.

We got to try four (four!) of them on the night including the best daiquiri I’ve ever had. Joly eschews the sickly sweet variety one might find coming out of a tap at Senor Frogs and instead makes the “Done Right Daiquiri” with El Dorado 12 year rum, Ron Zacapa Centenario rum, Smith and Cross rum (I sense a pattern here), lime and island spices (think cinnamon, anise, nutmeg; not unlike a rum punch). It was utterly divine, as were his other drinks, The Protagonist (a fresh take on the Paloma), The Sunset Smash #2 (Diplomatico 8 year-rum, coconut-infused Curacao, strawberry and chartreuse-flamed rosemary) and the Smoked Island Old-Fashioned (El Dorado 12-rum, Rhum Clement Vieux, Spiced Coffee Syrup).

Joly talked about how classic cocktails need a mix of both sour and sweet, while De Francesca waxed eloquent about the world-class chefs that the Cayman Islands have attracted.

Cayman Islands tourism officials talked to me about the tremendous variety they have to offer; great beaches and wonderful food, sure, but also tremendous diving, surprising hikes and colourful locals. There are a series of terrific-sounding hotels, including the Kimpton Seafire, the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, and the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort.

It all made for a rather magical evening. I can’t say which country in the Caribbean has the best cuisine, but I definitely wouldn’t mind a trip to the Cayman Islands. Don’t worry, Barbados; I love you, too.