23 in Las Vegas during the American Culinary Federation Convention.

Chef Ming expressed delight at being a part of such a prestigious society and is now setting his sights on the ultimate accolade. ..the Chefs Hall of Fame! "The epitome is the Hall of Fame which will be the icing on the cake,'' said Mr. Ming.

He is thankful to Timothy Ryan, Associate Dean of the American Culinary Institute and Ferdinand Metz, President of the Culinary Institute, for the support they have given him over the years.

The American Academy of Chefs honours those chefs who have accomplished exemplary culinary skills and have represented the culinary field with high honour.

"In order to be eligible for the Academy, chefs have to meet a certain criteria,'' said chef Ming.

"In total there are 25 requirements -- 20 are mandatory -- that an applicant has to meet before they are even considered. Some of the criteria for eligibility is that a chef should have served on various educational culinary committees. "He should also be a certified chef with the American Culinary Federation, have trained students for the culinary industry and done food demonstration on television and appeared in the public demonstrating their culinary skills. He should also have done community work and must be trained as a qualified culinarian.'' Chef Ming, who is the first chef to be elected from the Caribbean region, is very proud of his accomplishments and although he has now retired, is still teaching at the Bermuda College on a part-time basis and is still eager to share his talent and skills with upcoming chefs. According to Mr. Ming, 965 chefs have been inducted into the Academy out of a total of 35,000 American Culinary Federation members and there will be about 15 more from various regions inducted this summer.

The convention will be at the MGM Hotel in Las Vegas. After that chef Ming admits the ultimate goal for him is the Hall of Fame.

"It's very limited, at the present time there are only about two dozen or so,'' he said of that achievement.

"It's hard and you have to meet so much criteria in order to get in. I don't forsee any real problems, you have people who recognise and know about you.

"I do a lot of networking with people overseas, I travel to all kinds of conventions and they know me.

"This honour is for Bermuda as a whole, taking the profession to a different level.''