Traditions and Tastes', which is published this week, examines the origins of Island holidays, and the cuisine that make them special.

The book has been researched, written and produced by Bermudian Judith Wadson.

Besides working as an editor and photographer for Yachting magazine and as a free lance writer for major newspapers and magazines, she also trained as a chef at Peter Kump's New York Cooking School in Manhattan, before going on to work at Alice Waters' world-renowned Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California.

Her recipes (personally tested) provide a modernised and "healthier'' version of such Bermuda favourites as banana and ginger breads, cod-fish breakfasts and loquat jam.

With extensive research undertaken at the National Archives and Library, she has also drawn heavily on family recipes -- as well as personal recollections about seasonal traditions and family customs in "the old days''. The book is fully illustrated with a fascinating selection of rare Bermuda photographs, some of them from family albums.

There will be a book-signing for `Bermuda Traditions and Tastes' this Saturday, December 20, at Ariel Sands Conference Centre between 12 noon and 5 p.m. (delicious samples of food featured in the book will be on hand). Priced at $15, the 48-page volume goes on sale this week at stores throughout Bermuda. For further information or to order, Fax 238-4372.

A TASTE OF BERMUDA -- One of Bermuda's first honeymooners enjoys a leisurely sail through the waters of Hamilton Harbour. The cover of Judith Wadson's `Bermuda Traditions and Tastes' features a photograph from the Wight Family Album (1912), courtesy of the Bermuda National Archives.