It is one of the few dishes that is wholly and unquestionably Bermudian, a local food favourite that has put the Island on the global culinary map.

And yet, Bermuda fish chowder can consist of a wide variety of incarnations and subtleties of flavours, as the inaugural St. George's Fish Chowder Festival on Sunday proved to those who attended.

"I tasted a number of (the chowder entries) and they were all different,'' said 47-year-old Warwick resident Mr. David DeSilva, who won in the competition's individual category for a lovingly created rockfish chowder that kept him in the kitchen for some 12 hours.

Overall, there were over 25 competitors in the chowder competition, which saw contestants divided into three different categories: best individually made chowder, best restaurant chowder and best hotel chowder.

According to the rules of the festival, which was sponsored by the Corporation of St. George's and also included the first annual ACS Dinghy Rowing Competition, each of the competitors was required to provide at least two gallons of their original chowder recipes, which were then judged by a panel of officially appointed judges.

Not surprisingly, the chowder recipes remained secret in the vast majority of cases, although chef Alfred Konrad, who won for the St. George's Club in the hotel category, did tell Taste that the key to an outstanding chowder lay mainly in its base.

Chef Grantley Carter, who works at Flanagan's Irish Pub in Hamilton, was awarded the prize for the finest restaurant chowder.

"I think that's the secret,'' said Mr. Konrad, a 36-year-old Austrian who has worked at the St. George's Club since 1987. "To make a really good chowder, you have to have a really strong fish stock.'' Individual winner Mr. DeSilva, a maitre d'hotel at the Waterlot Inn in Southampton, concurred.

"Normally you use fish heads or the rack of a fish that has been filleted (to make a stock),'' he said. "In this case, I was lucky, because I was able to get a good-sized rockfish head for my chowder.'' Following, of course, the making of the stock, a chef will usually then incorporate the wide and idiosyncratic range of ingredients that gives most chowders their individual flavours and consistencies.

In the case of Mr. Konrad, who lives in the East End with his Bermudian-born wife, this singularity will often stem from the ingredients that he culls from the garden of their St. David's home -- ingredients like allspice leaves and green paw paw.

With Mr. DeSilva, moreover, it is frequently a case of both preparation and method -- "a slow, very time-consuming cooking process'' -- as well as his choice of flavourings.

"As you know,'' he told Taste , "many people will not sit down and eat fish chowder because they think it will have a fishy taste. I try, with my chowder, to avoid a fishy taste by using four different spices that not only complement each other but also camouflage the fishiness.'' Irrespective, however, of the various chowder recipes that exist out there -- and there are, undoubtedly, many -- the truth is that Bermuda's favourite seafood dish is as popular among those who make it as it as among those who eat it.

"I have been making chowder,'' said Mr. Konrad, "since I first arrived in Bermuda, in 1981. "Since that time, I have done -- and still do -- all sorts of things, but I love to make chowder.'' Judging from the success of last weekend's chowder festival, he isn't the only one.

*** While few of the chefs at last Sunday's Fish Chowder Festival in St. George's were eager to share their secrets, amateur chowder makers can create their own fishy fare by following the subsequent simple recipe, put out a few years ago by Outerbridge's Sherry Pepper Sauce.

*** BERMUDA FISH CHOWDER 4 qts water 11 lbs white fish fillets Salt, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, ground cloves to taste 2 tblsps butter 2 tblsps oil 3 large onions, chopped 8 stalks celery, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 2 green peppers, chopped 1 28-oz or 794-g can whole tomatoes, chopped 1 10-oz or 285 g can beef consomme 1 cup catsup 1 cup parsley, chopped 2 tblsps Worcestershire sauce 2 tsps lemon juice 2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced 6 carrots, diced 1 jigger dark rum 4 tblsps sherry pepper sauce Freshly ground pepper to taste IN a large pot, bring water, fish fillets, salt and spices to a boil and let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.

In a frying pan, melt butter and oil and briefly saute onions, celery, garlic and green peppers. Add tomatoes and consomme and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Transfer this mixture to the fish stock and add remaining ingredients. Simmer partially covered for two hours. Adjust seasoning as desired.

Serve chowder piping hot, with black rum and sherry pepper sauce as condiments. Recipe serves 12.