international cooking competition last week.

Eight team members scooped a host of prizes at the Taste of Caribbean 2000 cook-off in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The experienced team brought two newcomers, Sherman Trott and Wyman Lindsey, into the circle of winners after five weeks of training without the tools or supplies they would be using in competition.

Individual victories also rained on Bermuda's team with Wyman Lindsay taking first place in the Waiter, Food Service categories and Sherman Trott recognised as young commis for the Chaine Des Rotisseurs -- competing against Jamaica, British Virgin Islands, Barbados and Aruba.

Sherman Trott is a graduate of Bermuda College's Culinary programme and employed at La Coquille restaurant.

He will be competing in the Chaine competition held in the US next year. Wyman Lindsey and Mathew Line formed a partnership that led to winning a gold medal in the private category, placing second in the division after another team scored only a few points higher.

Gold medals awarded signifies a score of 90 or higher.

Team manager Josee Roy-Froncioni said Bermuda's team took victories in categories that they had never entered before, such as Lindsey with the Food Service gold medal.

The competition was comprised of virtually all countries in the Caribbean, said Chef Fred Ming, who accompanied and helped train the team.

Chef Ming joined the ranks of judges during this competition but was still involved in the Bermuda team's organisation.

He said many Caribbean countries were required to pass regional competition before making it to the international in Fort Lauderdale -- increasing the level of competition.

And team members had to acquire their own tools and products while in Florida.

Competition, indirectly, involved purchasing tools, cooking supplies and materials -- a process that often qualifies as an entire profession in the back house of most hotels. In total, Bermuda won eight gold medals, Best of the Caribbean Award, The Commis Chef and Food Service Awards. National competitors included Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Belize, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, Bonaire Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago.