AFTER the flight trauma of the last few weeks, many travellers may be thinking twice about leaving their house to go on holiday this summer.

But while it might be a relief to not have to worry about check-in times and queues, one thing many travellers will miss is the lovely exotic food.

However, with an increasingly wide range of home-grown foreign alternatives (mussels from Wales, cooked in wine from Kent anyone?) as well as a growing specialist food market, these days there's less danger that you'll miss out by staying home.

According to New Zealand-born Lee Cowie, head chef at the Kasbah Tamadot Hotel in Morocco, once people arrive on holiday, food is uppermost in their minds.

"Food is such a big part of your holiday. At our hotel, people get here and get involved. They request certain recipes and dishes that they like.

"Also, guests are happy to tell you if they don't like something, because it's their right... they're on holiday!"

To help holidaymakers recreate their wonderful experience, Lee, and fellow chefs from Virgin hotels, have put together a recipe collection called The Hotel Supper Club, available at www.Vhiphotels.co.uk

Including a wide range of dishes, from Moroccan fish cakes to seafood tagine, the collection demonstrates how amateur chefs can bring a taste of their holiday home with them.

"People expand their horizons when on holiday," says Lee. "This is great for budding chefs because guests get really adventurous."

With a wide range of exotic ingredients and spices at his disposal, Lee also enjoys getting creative.

He explains that, having moved from country to country, he's had to get used different cuisines.

"I've worked for Virgin holidays for six years. I was executive chef at Necker Island, Richard Branson's private island in the Caribbean, which is a very exclusive £50,000 dollar a night resort.

"I'd love to tell you about the people I met, but we had a saying, 'What happens on Necker stays on Necker'!"

On the island, Lee learned about Caribbean cooking, before moving to Australia, where he cooked for the 2000 Olympics Games, and then headed on to Morocco.

"Because I have been in different cultures, I've had to pick up new ways of cooking – just like anyone could do when they return home from a great holiday, and want to recreate the food they love.

"I've only been here six months, and I'm learning to cook a good balance between Moroccan and international cuisine."

Lee's biggest culinary lesson so far has been with cous cous.

"They make it differently from the way they do in the UK. Instead of pouring stock on it, they cook it over a steaming pan of vegetable bouillon, so it gets flavoured with steam. Then you take it off the heat, get your hands in it, fluff it up, and cook it again over the steam."

The aroma, Lee says, is different from anything he's ever had before.

When it comes to recreating your own holiday at home, Lee has a few tips.

"You're not always going to get the ingredients because they're all over the world. But there are many speciality stores out there now, and if the food isn't there, you can ask your fishmonger and butcher to suggest alternatives.

"It's also about seasonality, and personal preference. There's no use trying to cook a seafood barbecue in Britain in the middle of winter!"

So does the chef ever think about cooking for a hotel in the UK?

"I live an hour out of Marrakech in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. From my kitchen window I can see the highest mountains in Africa. It would be a hard view to leave behind."

Here are a few holiday recipes to try at home...

MOROCCAN FISH CAKES (Kasbah Tamadot Hotel, Morocco)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

50g salt

2 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

1 sprig rosemary

3 cloves garlic, crushed

150g fish

150ml cream

150ml milk

1tbsp parmesan, grated

2tbsp olive oil

100g mash potato

20g butter

100g cooked crab

4 eggs

200g flour, seasoned with a little salt and pepper

200g bread crumbs

Method

Combine the salt, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary and garlic in a bowl. Place the fish on a plate and cover with the salt mixture. Cover and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Rinse the salt mix off the fish and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the cream and 150ml of the milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the fish and gently poach for 3-4 mins. Drain and reserve the liquid.

Place the fish, parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil, mash potato and butter in a bowl. Break the fish into flakes.

Stir in the crab and season to taste. Roll into cakes of desired size and place in the freezer for 1 hour.

Crumb the cakes using the seasoned flour, the reserved milk from poaching and the bread crumbs.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH CHOCOLATE VODKA INFUSION (Hotel on Rivington, New York)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

3oz 60 per cent cocoa chocolate

2oz 40 per cent cocoa chocolate

5oz crème anglaise

10oz heavy cream

8oz 45 per cent of cocoa chocolate

6oz 60 per cent of cocoa chocolate

4oz 70 per cent of cocoa chocolate

10oz full cream

5oz vodka

Method

Dissolve both chocolates on low heat.

When dissolved, allow to cool and add the crème anglaise.

Whip into a thick cream. Refrigerate for 5 hours.

Dissolve the chocolate and full cream on a low heat and add the vodka. Place the chocolate mousse between two small round pots of chocolate (2in diameter). Drizzle on top the cream of chocolate. Decorate with fresh berries.