Chefs are known to experiment in the kitchen, but when it comes to making the perfect fishcakes Alex Dowling knows it’s better not to mess with her family’s tradition.She recently won the title of Best Fishcakes in the City Food Festival using a recipe passed down from her mother Lesley Hall, and grandmother, Geraldine Dowling.The secret to the perfect cake is to sauté the onions and thyme instead of putting them into the codfish mixture raw, she said. “All the flavours come out when you sauté it and they combine with the fish cakes.“A lot of people also put the seasoning in the flour and then you only taste it on the outside, but I prefer to put the seasoning in the fishcake batter itself so you taste it in every bite.”The final touch for the award-winning fishcakes was deep frying them until golden brown, instead of searing them in a pan. This step ensured they were perfectly crispy on the outside, Ms Dowling said.Currently a senior chef de partie at the Fairmont Southampton, she said she was most passionate about the presentation of food, and finding ways to accommodate people with food allergies and intolerances.As a young girl she would make fishcakes with her father William Dowling for the holidays; it wasn’t until she was a teenager that she built up enough confidence to step into the kitchen on her own.She entered the City of Hamilton’s food festival this past weekend just for fun, but was hoping to win something — she also competed to win the titles of Best Swizzle and Best Fish Chowder.In the end it was the simple family recipe that won the judges over. “It’s how my family has always made fishcakes and the recipe at the hotel is something like mine, but they put a lot more spices like turmeric and curry powder in theirs,” Ms Dowling told The Royal Gazette.“I felt confident beforehand that I would win because I had really nice flavoured fishcakes, but wasn’t sure by the time the judges sampled them, because they had been left out for part of the day and had gone from crispy to soft.”Yesterday, Ms Dowling was excited that her hard work paid off. The only problem was there weren’t any left over for one of her biggest fans to enjoy.“After the judging, people came and they took some tasters of the fishcakes, and they went really fast, like ‘hot cakes’,” she said. “I couldn’t keep a hold of them or save one for my mom.“I got a lot of orders after that, and already have requests for next year, but because I am so busy right now I have had to say no for this year.”Ms Dowling will be working this holiday weekend, but said what she most enjoys about Good Friday, and Easter, is watching the tourists share in on the Island’s traditions.“I really just enjoy seeing the families and guests really get into Good Friday and learn how to make the kites and finding out what they are and how we celebrate,” she said. “Many people from overseas celebrate Good Friday, but not the way we Bermudians celebrate it, so the hotel does a good job showing them how it’s done.”