A new cookbook takes Bermudians back to a time when potato salad was mixed on the beach, shops closed on Thursday afternoons, and sandwiches were fashionable wedding food.

Bermudian veteran chef, Fred Ming, details all this in his new cookbook, 'Bermuda Traditions'.

"In Bermuda we still have some traditional things that aren't found in the rest of the world," he said. "Shark hash would be one thing."

And he said Bermudians have a slightly unusual way of mixing sweet and savoury.

"Take Bermuda cassava pie," he said. "It doesn't sound like a sweet cake and meat added should go together. It doesn't sound like a proper marriage. But it does work.

"We also like having a fish cake on a sweet bun. It doesn't sound good at first, but it is delicious."

As the title 'Bermuda Traditions' would suggest, the book contains information about special occasions in Bermuda and the food that traditionally goes with them.

Some traditions looked at include using leftover Christmas turkey for New Years' soups, and eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.

"Ash Wednesday was the beginning of Lent so people didn't eat a lot of heavy foods or red meats," he said. "That is why they had fish cakes and things of that nature."

When Mr. Ming was a young boy, shops and businesses closed on Thursday afternoons. As a result, weddings were frequently held on Thursdays.

"In those days people just had sandwiches and cakes at the wedding," he said. "Now weddings are often done in a big buffet style."

Mr. Ming thought the book was a good way to celebrate Bermuda's 400th anniversary.

"It includes some of the old foods, and also some of the old drinks such as mauby."

Mauby, a drink popular in the Caribbean, is made with sugar and the bark and or fruit of Colubrina arborescens, a small tree native to the northern Caribbean and south Florida.

The recipes in 'Bermuda Traditions' are fairly simple, and mainly entrees without a lot of desserts.

"If you have a recipe that is one or two pages long, people are reluctant to try it," said Mr. Ming. "They think it is going to be long and drawn out. That is why I give it the 'KIS' method 'Keep it Simple'."

Mr. Ming started cooking 40 years ago.

"Cooking was in our family," he said.

"I had an aunt who worked at the Crow Lane Bakery. She was very good at cooking.

"I would say she made the best cakes in Bermuda."

Because he saw his grandmothers and aunts cooking as a kid, he thought it was 'women's work'.

A school trip to visit the Queen of Bermuda luxury cruise ship, changed his mind.

"We saw the galley and it was manned by men," he said. "My perception of cooking until then was that it was a woman thing."

In his twenties, he went to work on the Queen of Bermuda.

"My first job was in the laundry," he said. "I managed to get a transfer to the pastry department.

"I stayed there for a year. Then I was transferred to the kitchen, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was making entrees for the passengers. That was the early beginnings of my livelihood."

He worked on the ship for three years, then went back in Bermuda and studied at the Hotel College in Bermuda, the forerunner to the Bermuda College.

Later he worked preparing airplane meals at Bermuda Aviation Services, then eventually went to work at the prestigious Savoy Hotel in London.

He obtained a teacher's degree from Ealing College in London, plus other qualifications.

"To date I am the only born Bermudian who has one of the highest degrees in the culinary industry, a City & Guilds Advanced Culinary Skills degree," he said

Mr. Ming is now retired after 23 years working as a senior instructor at the Bermuda College.

He decided to start writing cookbooks, because he was tired of seeing recipes scribbled on a piece of paper and shoved in a drawer.

"I thought I would compile recipes so I would leave something behind, rather than people later finding a piece of paper shoved in a drawer," he said.

He said that his grandmother and aunts often made their recipes from scratch so there wasn't any record of their recipes when they were gone.

"I can remember some of my aunties making cakes in an old brick oven and it used to come out beautifully," he said. "They did it from scratch.

"They had a technique. If they were to tell someone else a pinch of this and a pinch of that it wouldn't come out properly."

Mr. Ming and his wife Charlotte share cooking duties at home. They have three grown children.

"I do all the cooking and meal planning when we entertain," he said.

He is the director of the Caribbean and Bermuda board of the American Culinary Federation based in the United States.

He also is a frequent judge in local cooking competitions.

Unfortunately, in October 2004 he was on the way to a cook-off when he had a bad bike accident.

He was in critical condition and was flown off the Island. After many months of recovery he was finally pronounced well.

Now and he and his wife, a former school principal, are enjoying their retirement. They recently returned from a long cruise.

In 2001, he was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) on the Queen's Birthday honours list.

For Mr. Ming it was a fine reward after many years of struggle in the early days of his career.

"When I started in the industry, it was difficult to find a place because most of the jobs were filled by foreigners," he said.

He said even today when the Bermuda College turns out people trained to work in the hotel industry, Bermudians are still outnumbered.

"But this is the same the world over," he said. "Foreign chefs coming to Bermuda are going to bring their own ideas of cooking. That's understandable, but it would be nice to see each hotel and restaurant in Bermuda offer at least six local dishes on their menu.

"Tourists want to taste the local cuisine. Good food can bring people together."

'Bermuda Traditions' can be found in bookstores throughout Bermuda.

Chef Fred Ming's Turbot stew

4 small turbots, cleaned and skinned

1 teaspoon of garlic

1 bay leaf

1 bird pepper, seeded and chopped.

4 whole potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 tablespoon of parsley, coarsely chopped

2 limes, juice only

1 quart fish stock or water

salt and pepper to taste

Wash fish in cold water and cut them in half and place into a suitable pot. Add all the ingredients to the pot and cover with the stock or water.

Let fish stew come to a boil, skim and let simmer for 40 minutes. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Paw-Paw Casserole

2medium green pawpaws, sliced

1 cup of grated cheddar cheese

2 whole ripe tomatoes cut into chunks

1 glove of garlic

1 tablespoon of butter

½ cup dried breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Peel pawpaw, cut in half and remove the seeds. Place in a suitable pot and cover with water.

Add some salt, and cook until tender. In a frying pan, add the butter and sauté the onion and garlic until soft.

Then add the tomatoes. Drain pawpaw and mix in with onion mixture. Check on seasoning then place mixture in a greased casserole dish.

Spring the top with the grated cheese then the breadcrumbs. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes.