Bon Appétit

The colonists planted around 150 varieties of apples in New England, many of which can still be found today. Apples show up most often in a double-crust pie, but the crisp is also a superb showcase. Nothing more than fruit baked with crumbly nut, flour, sugar and butter topping, it's as simple to make as it is delicious.

To roll out this dough you will need a pastry cloth and a rolling-pin cover, which are available at kitchenware stores and by mail order from Bridge Kitchenware, tel. (800) 274-3435 or (212) 838-1901.

This works equally well with raw vegetables or chips — or as a sauce for cold poached salmon or shrimp.

Try this one with turkey (it's also a nice accompaniment to pork or roast duck). Terrific for gift giving when packaged in a decorative jar.

One of the great blue cheeses of the world, real English Stilton transforms potatoes au gratin into something extraordinary.

Nice accompaniments for this Sicilian-style shrimp dish are sautéed broccoli and some orzo (rice-shaped pasta; also called riso) with butter and lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. For dessert, serve sliced pears and almond cookies.

Roast some cherry tomatoes and eggplant cubes alongside the lamb, and perk up instant couscous with fresh herbs for an easy addition. To complete the dinner, top poached or canned apricot halves with vanilla yogurt and chopped pistachios.

Any brand of curry paste, which comes in jars or plastic pouches, will be successful in this authentic-tasting curry. Serve the spicy chicken with rice pilaf and stir-fried broccoli; lemon frozen yogurt is a refreshing finale.

Often called black cakes, spice cakes flavored with molasses are a perennial on the southern dessert buffet.

The 1990s opened with American cooks finding their way back to some of the foods and flavors of our country's beginning, then modifying them with new knowledge gained over time. Cheesecakes have been around for centuries, but they've never been more popular in the United States than they are right now. Pumpkin, too, is a New World food for which tradition reserves an honored place at any Thanksgiving table. We've teamed up these old favorites with luscious caramel in a creamy dessert that's right in step with the times.

Chef Jean-Charles Bredas has this entrée on the menu at Habitation Lagrange in Martinique. Have the butcher cut the lamb neck bones for you.

Bacalao (salt cod) has been popular in Spain for centuries, especially among the Basques (they brought it back from whaling voyages to northern Europe) and the Catalans (the southern French shared it with them). Although Spain is surrounded by water, in days gone by fresh fish never made it to the interior and sometimes wasn't available - or any good - on the coasts. So, in this strict Catholic country where meat and poultry were not allowed on Fridays, or during Lent, Bacalao became an integral part of the staple diet. Bradade - salt cod pureed with potatoes, olive oil and sometimes milk - is a specialty of France's Provence area that has made its way into the Catalan culinary repertoire as Brandada. If you've never tried salt cod, this is a good initiation. Start soaking the dried fish a day ahead.

A delicious side dish at the Old Manor Estate in Gingerland, Nevis.