belongs exclusively to its country or its region. Cooks borrow and adapt down through the centuries. What each individual country does do is give all the elements, borrowed or otherwise, something of a national character.'' Thus, in her book, English Food, which is available at the Bermuda Library, we find a wide-ranging collection of recipes commonly associated with the British Isles.

Here is a sampling: LEEK PIE Pastry 1 lb. puff or shortcrust pasty Beaten egg to glaze Filling 1 onion, sliced 6 tbsp. butter 1 lb. leeks, trimmed and sliced 1 lb. back bacon rashers 4 oz. clotted or double cream 1 heaped tsp. flour Salt, pepper To prepare filling: Cook onion gently in half the butter in a frying pan. When soft and golden add leeks (there should be from 10 to 12 oz. of them, once the waste has been cut away) and remaining butter. Continue to cook slowly until leeks are reduced to a soft mass. Remove from heat, add bacon cut into 1 '' strips. Mix flour with cream and beat mixture into the leeks so that everything is smoothly amalgamated. Season thoroughly.

To make pie: Line an 8''-9'' pie pan, preferably the kind with a removable base, with just over half the pastry. Put in the filling. Brush the rim with a little beaten egg and cover with a pastry lid. Make a hole in the centre for the steam to escape. Decorate with pastry scraps, if desired, and brush crust with beaten egg. Bake in 425-degree F. oven about 15 minutes until the pastry is nicely browned, and in the case of puff pastry, well risen. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F., cook another 20-30 minutes.

*** FINNAN HADDOCK AND MUSTARD SAUCE 3 lbs. finnan haddock 20 oz. milk 5 oz. water 1 medium onion, sliced 1 carrot, sliced 2 cloves 1 bay leaf 2 tbsp. butter 1 rounded tbsp. flour Mustard to taste Salt, pepper CUT fish into two long pieces. Bring milk, water, onion, carrot, cloves and bay leaf to the boil in a wide, shallow pan. Add haddock, skin side up, and leave for 10 minutes -- the liquid should just simmer. Place the fish on a serving plate and cover to keep warm.

Melt butter in a small pan, stir in flour, cook for two minutes. Gradually stir in enough of the haddock cooking liquor to make a smooth, fairly thin sauce about the consistency of single cream. Raise heat and allow sauce to bubble down gently to a thick consistency. (This will also increase the flavour). Season to taste with mustard, staring with a teaspoonful and gradually adding more, and then with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over haddock.

Serve with boiled potatoes turned in butter and chopped parsley.

*** LAMB TO EAT LIKE VENISON Marinade 5 oz. chopped onion 5 oz. chopped carrot 2 oz. chopped celery 3 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tbsp. oil Bay leaf 2 sprigs thyme 4 sprigs parsley 2 sprigs rosemary 8 juniper berries, crushed 8 coriander seeds, crushed 10 peppercorns, crushed 3 tsp. salt 20 oz. red or dry white wine, or dry cider 5 oz. red or white wine vinegar To make the marinade: Brown vegetables and garlic in oil. Add remaining marinade ingredients and bring to the boil. Set aside to cool. Score fat on lamb leg into a diamond pattern, and place the meat in a deep dish. Pour cold marinade over it. Cover with foil and store in refrigerator for several days, turning twice a day.

To cook the lamb you will also need: 2 onions, sliced 2 carrots, diced 2 stalks celery, chopped 2 leeks, sliced 1 lb. unsmoked streaky bacon, cut in pieces 2 oz. butter Veal stock LIGHTLY brown vegetables and bacon, then put into a deep pan. Lay the leg of lamb on top. Strain marinade over it and add enough veal stock to come about two-thirds of the way up. Bring slowly to the boil, cover pot and leave to simmer for 2 hours until lamb is almost cooked -- this can be done either on top of the stove or in the oven. Turn the joint over after 1 hour. Shortly before the 2 hours is up, remove 2 Imperial pints (40 oz.) of the cooking liquor and boil it down to 1 pint of strongly flavoured stock. Put the meat onto a roasting dish and give it 20 minutes in a hot (425 degrees F.) oven to glaze, basting it frequently with the reduced stock.

Serve it with green beans, redcurrant jelly and either the pan juices, or gravy made from them, together with some of the remaining cooking stock.

*** COCKIE-LEEKIE 1 lb. prunes 2 lb. piece of stewing beef 1 boiling fowl, capon or chicken 3 lbs. leeks, trimmed Salt, pepper SOAK prunes overnight. Three to four hours before the meal, put beef into a pot large enough to hold the chicken as well at a later stage. Cover it with plenty of water, and bring it slowly to the boil. Skim off grey foamy bubbles as they rise. Simmer for one hour, then add seasoning, and the bird if it is a boiling fowl. In any case, add half the leeks which should be tied together in a bundle. If the bird is a capon or roasting chicken, add it 11 hours before the end of the cooking time or a little less according to size.

TRY THESES RECIPES FOR A TASTE OF BRITAIN! The prunes should go in 20 minutes before the cockie-leekie is ready.

Meanwhile, cut remaining leeks into slices; they should be added for the last 5 minutes of cooking time so that they keep a little of their crispness. (The big bundle of leeks should be discarded, as all the flavour will have gone into the stock.) The correct way of serving cockie-leekie is to put a slice of beef, a bit of chicken, some prunes, leeks and soup into each bowl. The convenient way is to drink the soup first, then to eat the other items as a main course afterwards.

*** CORNISH PASTY Shortcrust pastry 3 cups plain flour 1 tsp. salt 3 cup lard Water Filling 1 lb. skirt or chuck steak 4-5 oz. chopped onion 3 oz. chopped turnip 8 oz. thinly-sliced potato Salt, pepper Pinch of thyme Glaze 1 beaten egg MAKE shortcrust pastry in usual way. Don't be tempted to use butter or any other kind of fat, because lard gives the right flavour and texture to the crust. Leave pastry in a cool place for an hour to rest.

Meanwhile, remove lean meat from skin, gristle, etc., and chop it with a sharp, heavy knife. There should be a generous half pound (the trimmings can be kept for stock-making). Mix meat with vegetables and seasoning.

Roll out pastry and divide into two large dinner-plate sized circles. Divide steak mixture between the two, putting it down the middle. Brush pastry edges with beaten egg. Bring up two sides of the pastry to meet over the top of the filling, and pinch them together into a scalloped crest going right over the top of the pastry. Make two holes on top, either side of the crest to let steam escape. Place pasties on a baking sheet, brush with beaten egg, and bake in 400 degree F. oven for 20 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees F., cook another 40 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

WELSH CHICKEN AND LEEK PIE 1 boiling or roasting chicken 1 onion, unpeeled 2 tbsp. chopped celery Bouquet garni Salt, pepper 1 lb. cooked, sliced tongue 6 fine leeks, trimmed 2 tbsp. chopped parsley 8 oz. shortcrust pastry Beaten egg to glaze PUT chicken into a deep pot with onion, celery, herbs and seasoning. Add enough water barely to cover. Simmer until chicken is cooked. Remove pot and seet aside to cool.

Cut chicken and tongue into neat pieces. Skim fat from cooking stock. Arrange chicken and tongue in a pie dish. Slice leeks and cook in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes. Drain well, add to pie dish with the parsley. Season and pour over just enough of the chicken stock barely to cover the contents of the pie. Roll out pastry for top crust. Cut one strip from it and place around rim of pie dish. Brush with beaten egg, and lay pastry top over it. Press down edges, trim off surplus pastry and decorate with a few pastry leaves. Make a central hole so that the steam can escape. Brush crust with beaten egg and cook in 450 degree-F. oven 20-25 minutes until the pastry is a nice colour.

Lower heat to 350-375 degrees F., and cook another 20 minutes or so. Serves 6.

*** GOOSEBERRY FOOL 1 lb. young green gooseberries 1 cup butter Sugar Either: 10 oz. double or whipping cream, OR 5 oz. EACH single and double cream, OR 10 oz. single cream plus 3 egg yolks TOP and tail gooseberries. Melt butter in a large pan, add fruit, cover, cook gently for about 5 minutes. When fruit looks yellow and has softened, remove from heat. Crush fruit with a wooden spoon, then a fork. Don't try to produce a smooth puree by sieving or liquidising the gooseberries -- they should be more of a mash. Season with sugar to taste.

Either: Whip cream(s) until they are firm and fold into the cooled fruit.

Taste and add more sugar if necessary, but don't make the fool too sweet.

SOME TASTY OLD-FASHIONED RECIPES FROM BRITAIN A couple of tbsp. of muscat wine gives Gooseberry Fool a delicious, unidentifiable fragrance, but I would not recommend the addition of any other wine. Serve lightly chilled, with almond biscuits.

Or: Instead of cream, make a thick custard by boiling the single cream, then stirring it into the egg yolks. Return mixture to the pan, and keep it over a low to medium heat until it thickens, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, and making sure it doesn't boil. Combine with fruit puree when cold.

Both methods go back to the earliest recipes. What is unforgivable is the use of package custards. Note: Any crushed, soft fruit can make a delicious fool.

*** GOOSEBERRY, PEAR, APPLE OR QUINCE CREAM 1 lb. fruit Sugar 10 oz. cream 3 egg yolks 4 tbsp. butter, melted Appropriate spice or wine PREPARE and cook fruit, starting if off with three tbsp. of water. No need to remove peel or cores, just cut it up if necessary. Sieve the fruit into a bowl. Add sugar to taste, making it on the sweet side. Beat in cream, then egg yolks and butter. Flavour with a spice appropriate to the fruit you choose, or, in the case of gooseberries, a little muscat wine, or some orange-flower water for an especially eighteenth-century flavour.

This mixture can either be cooked over a low heat until very thick, without boiling, or the eggs will curdle; or it can be turned into a pastry case, or an ovenproof dish, and baked until just set -- 375 degrees F. Eat hot, warm or cold. Serves 4-6.

*** QUEEN OF PUDDINGS 5 oz. fresh brown or white breadcrumbs 1 heaped tbsp. vanilla sugar Grated rind of 1 large lemon 20 oz. milk 4 tbsp. lightly salted butter 4 large egg yolks 2 tbsp. blackcurrant jelly, or raspberry jelly 4 large egg whites 4 tbsp. sugar plus 1 teaspoonful PUT breadcrumbs, vanilla, sugar and lemon rind into a pudding basin. Bring milk and butter to just below boiling point and stir it into the crumbs. Leave for 10 minutes, then beat in egg yolks thoroughly. Grease a shallow dish which holds about 21 Imperial pints and pour in breadcrumb custard. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes, or a little less, until just firm -- the time will depend on the depth of the dish, and remember: custard will continue to cook a little in its own heat so if centre looks runny underneath the skin don't feel anxious. Warm jelly (if you use jam, warm it and sieve it) and spread it over custard without breaking the surface. Whisk egg whites until stiff, mix in half the sugar, then whisk again until slightly satiny. With a metal spoon, fold in the rest of the 4 oz. of sugar. Pile on top of the pudding, sprinkle with the extra teaspoonful of sugar and return to the oven for 15 minutes until the meringue is slightly browned and crisp. Serve hot with plenty of cream. Serves 4-6.

*** MRS BEETON'S CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE 4 egg yolks 3 heaped tsp. sugar 1 heaped tsp. flour 3 oz. plain chocolate, grated 4 egg whites, beaten stiff Extra sugar BEAT first four ingredients together well. Fold in egg whites. Pour into a greased cake pan and bake at 375 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Pin a white napkin round the tin quickly, sprinkle the top of the souffle with sugar and serve immediately. Cream goes well with this souffle, which should be taken straight from oven to table before it has a chance to fall. Serves 4.