pie sound? Or callaloo soup, salt fish pie and maybe even "married woman'' -- which is the name of a West Indian baked jack recipe.

All of these dishes can be found in the `Tropical Island Cooking -- Recipes from Bermuda and the Caribbean'' cook book.

Written by Mary Slater of Barbados, this cook book offers an array of fine island cuisines.

Local recipes such as Bermuda's cod fish Sunday breakfast, baked green pawpaw casserole, banana bread, rum swizzle and fish chowder are among them, although any reference to Bermuda seems only to be mentioned on the book's cover.

Ms Slater writes "West Indian legend has it that as earliest man wandered starving through the steaming savannah, the carib god, Kabo Tano, took pity on him and created a great tree, a tree hung with all the fruits and foods he would need; sapodillas, mangoes, coconuts, pawpaw, and cassava.

"Every man cut himself a branch and so it is because of that, today, food grows near almost every Caribbean home.'' She added: "In this book, I do not set out to list the regional recipes but choose those with the widest appeal, and have endeavoured to suggest some new ways, possibly my ways, of using Caribbean produce rather than adding yet another title of the books of traditional recipes which already exist.'' Throughout, sections are divided by titles such as sauces, marinades, and butters, about which she says: "Sauce in the islands must be approached with some caution; call for pepper and what comes will be pepper sauce without which no West Indian really relishes his food''.

Rice dishes and curries offer very different ideas on just how you can use rice, from a rice loaf which once cooked is placed in a buttered loaf pan with a thick layer of minced meat, chicken or fish in the middle or cold scrabbled eggs and rice.

"Cooking methods of rice might fill a complete book, but not all are palatable to non-West Indians,'' Ms Slater writes.

"And as in all hot places, curries are often eaten, the hotter the better for West Indians. People unused to eating curry cannot understand why such spicy food should be cooked in the tropics, but spice has a definite antiseptic value and true curries are never made with left-over, bacteria carrying food.'' And she adds that they are in fact cooling because they cause perspiration, although when eaten in excess they can produce prickly heat.

According to Ms Slater, meat comes third after rice and fish as a favourite dish for islanders.

Some of the recipes in her book stem from tradition and folklore. The New Year suckling pig, for instance, is said to bring good luck if it is the first morsel eaten after midnight.

Turkey is served not only at Christmas, but is the focal point of the wedding breakfast or family gathering. Baked ham, the traditional Christmas dish in Trinidad, crops up in this capacity on the other islands; chicken appears everywhere on any day of the week. And goat and mutton are the meats of choice in Jamaica.

The cook book also offers a selection of great desserts such as burnt sugar pudding, spiced bananas, coral reef coconut cream pie, guava tart, banana rum ice cream and mango ice cream.

It also has recipes for banana bread and cassava pone, which is more of a sweet rather than our cassava pie and orange loaf.

Like Bermudians, West Indians make good use of their abundance of fruit by making jams, jellies, preserves and pickles.

Just as Bermudians use left over loquats and cherries, Caribbean islanders use mangoes and guavas to make mango chutney -- which goes very nicely with a rack of lamb -- mango jam, guava cheese, and guava jelly.

PINEAPPLE PLEASURE -- This dish of curried prawns served in pineapple shells comes from Trinidad.