been the inventors of some fine home cooking over the years.

From time immemorial really, mothers of every persuasion -- even those who can only cook a single finely tuned dish -- have been getting at the hearts of their respective households through their highly receptive stomachs.

In the US, for instance, the word "mom'' is almost inseparable from that quintessential American dish: apple pie.

And why, moreover, do you suppose that the Italians have been known to exclaim Mamma mia! over their linguine, lasagne and pesto? Of course, Bermudians are no strangers to this particular brand of motherlove.

As a people who highly value their hearths and their homes, they can wax just as rhapsodic on their mamas' home cooking as anyone else in the world.

That, anyway, was what Taste found when it canvassed The Royal Gazette newsroom over the past week -- yes, journalists also have mothers who love them -- to come up with some of the Island's tastiest home-style recipes in anticipation of Mother's Day on Sunday.

While many of these original recipes were typically and authentically Bermudian -- the black-eyed pea soup of Gazette librarian Miss Deborah Charles' mom and the grilled butterfly lamb of news reporter Miss Libby Francis' mother are but two examples -- other dishes, like the Guyanese pepper pot of the mother of news editor Miss Carol Parker or the spicy Bajan -style curry goat of reporter Mr. John Burchall's mom, added a zesty Caribbean flavour to this particular bill of fare.

As this week also marked the 50th anniversary of V-E Day, the recipe for birthday cake with "crunchy'' icing that was provided by news reporter Miss Elizabeth Harvey's mother was particularly appropriate, stemming as it did from a time when icing sugar was scarce in Bermuda because of war shortages and some frostings were therefore crunchy.

"Crunchy icing,'' Mrs. Susan Harvey said, "is something I remember from my childhood.

"During the war and for several years after, caster and icing sugar were not available, so treats like icing had to be made with granulated sugar.

"We thought it (the resultant icing) was delicious, and when I made it for my children and their friends, they loved it too. It has become something of a family tradition.'' Whatever their origins may have been, however, each of the recipes provided below is guaranteed to produce some fine and tasty results.

Indeed, Taste knows of at least five people who will swear by them.

Nothing beats mom's cooking as these tasty recipes show From Page 31 MRS. CHARLES' BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP Courtesy of Royal Gazette Librarian Deborah Charles' Mother Virginia 1 cup black-eyed peas 6 pieces boneless chicken thighs 1 large onion 2 qts. water 3 to 5 Oxo cubes 1 or 1 turnip 4 sticks celery 4 medium carrots 2 medium potatoes 1 medium tin Cajun stewed tomatoes 1 small paw paw Basil, oregano, parsley, Italian herbs and black pepper to taste AFTER rinsing black-eyed peas with cold water, soak them in warm water for approximately half an hour. Trim all excess fat from chicken thighs, cut thighs into small pieces and place into saucepan. Simmer chicken with onions until soft, then add water, Oxo cubes and seasoning. Add black-eyed peas to mixture and bring to a boil.

Chop up all the vegetables and add to boiling mixture. Reduce heat to a medium-high temperature. Drain juice from stewed tomatoes in strainer and add it to the soup. Cut tomatoes into small pieces and add them to soup. Cook soup until beans and vegetables are soft and let simmer on low heat. Add water as necessary.

Soup serves six to eight.

MRS. BURCHALL'S CURRY GOAT Courtesy of News Reporter John Burchall's Mother Onita 2 lbs. goat meat salt black pepper 3 tblsps. curry powder 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 tomatoes, chopped 2 onions, sliced 2 stalks escallion, chopped 1 to 2 hot peppers, chopped, with or without seeds 2 tblsps. butter 1 cup oil about 3 cups water CUT goat meat into small pieces, place in bowl and season with salt, black pepper, curry powder, garlic, tomatoes, onions, escallion and hot peppers.

Remove the seeds from the peppers only if you do not want the curry to be too hot. Allow the meat to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, separate the seasonings from the meat and fry the meat in the butter and oil until lightly browned. Add enough water to cover the meat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover the pan and simmer until the meat is tender, adding more water if necessary. Stir in the seasonings in which the meat was marinated, cover pan and allow to simmer for a further 10 minutes or until seasonings are absorbed into the juice. Juice should now have more body but not be too thick. Dish should not be at all dry.

Some cooks may prefer to boil the meat before adding the seasonings or to boil the meat and the seasonings together from the start. It's a matter of choice.

Once cooked, serve the dish with white rice, mango chutney, grated coconuts or fried plantains. Dish serves three to four.

MRS. FRANCIS' GRILLED BUTTERFLY LAMB Courtesy of News Reporter Libby Francis' Mother Ann 1 6-lb. leg of lamb, butterflied 1 cup virgin olive oil 1 cup Dijon mustard 4 cloves fresh garlic, crushed 4 to 5 sprigs fresh rosemary 1 tsp. salt Ground black pepper to taste MIX all ingredients except lamb to form paste and coat meat entirely with it.

Grill or barbecue lamb for 10 to 15 minutes on one side and five to seven minutes on the other. Remove cooked lamb from grill and cut diagonally into thin slices for serving. A mango chutney is recommended to accompany. Lamb serves eight to 10.

MRS. PARKER'S GUYANESE PEPPER POT Courtesy of News Editor Carol Parker's Mother Clarita 11 lbs. pig tail 11 lbs. salt beef 3 lbs. fresh beef, cubed 1 green pepper (yellow pepper for spicier pepper pot) 1 medium onion 1 large tomato 2 ozs. cloves 4 ozs. casyrup (better known as casareep) COMBINE all ingredients in a quarter pot of water and boil over low flame for three hours. Add casyrup and boil at low heat for another three hours or until meat is tender. Serve hot over a bed of rice.

Recipe serves six to eight.

MRS. HARVEY'S DOUBLE-LAYER BIRTHDAY CAKE WITH CRUNCHY ICING Courtesy of News Reporter Elizabeth Harvey's Mother Susan Chocolate Cake Rounds 4 ozs. plain chocolate, broken into pieces 1 pt. milk 8 ozs. self-raising flour 1 tsp. baking powder 4 ozs. butter or margarine 4 ozs. soft brown sugar 2 eggs, separated Crunchy Icing (to spread between cake layers when cool) 2 ozs. unsalted butter 4 ozs. granulated sugar 1 oz. chocolate powder or one dessert spoon of sieved cocoa vanilla essence Glac me Icing (to spread on exterior of cake) 8 ozs. icing sugar 2 ozs. plain chocolate, melted a little water a little melted butter (for gloss) TO make two cake rounds, heat chocolate and milk over gentle flame, stirring until chocolate is melted. Sift flour and baking powder and set aside. Cream sugar and butter until light, then beat in egg yolks one at a time. Fold in flour mixture.

Add half of the chocolate milk to mixture and beat until smooth; stir in the rest. Whisk the egg whites until fairly stiff and fold into chocolate mixture.

Turn mixture into two greased eight-inch sandwich tins and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Set cakes aside.

To make "crunchy'' icing, cream butter lightly, then add sugar and flavouring. Beat the mixture until well-mixed (or stir until butter is soft but not melted). Spread icing over top of one cake round and then cap with the other.

To make glac me, blend melted chocolate with icing sugar in a saucepan and heat over a low flame until melted. Pour in a little water until mixture is smooth, then add butter for gloss. When cool, spread icing over exterior of cake. Decorate cake with Smarties, jelly babies and birthday candles.