Yesterday, I broke out the Misfits hake. Long time since I'd had hake, probably not since English fish and chips from the chippie. It's a nice white fish, not as moist as cod, but good.
So I breaded it with spiced-up Panko and an egg wash.
Roasted potatoes with scallions for a while at 400°f then put in the fish for the last twenty minutes.
And I happened to have ingredients to make a tartar sauce. If you have a different recipe please share!
This made three full meals plus extra for stuffing pita bread for sandwiches.
In the middle of this I remembered an online presentation I'd signed up for, so I ended up cooking, photographing food, and doing screenshots more or less all at the same time. Interesting thread on my camera.
It was a Hajji Baba club presentation on silk dowry embroideries. Central Asian suzani. Suzani means embroideries.
The speaker is a collector and trader, who loves the form but, like other collectors in this Club series, has only a passing interest in the actual execution.
He skimmed over the stitches, saying chain stitch and others he wasn't sure about (!). He only once mentioned the ground fabric was linen, maybe wool. He never mentioned the size of the works. He did say they dated from the late 18th to early 20th century.
But he has a terrific knowledge of the geopolitics of the region and the theories of origin of the works.
They're in part the stitching done by young girls to demonstrate their skills and improve their chances of a favorable marriage. Works are purchased by the family to go with the daughter as a valuable dowry.
Most of the slides here show masterworks, luxury items, almost certainly group executed.
Whatever the origin, the beauty is undeniable, and he organized it clearly around the various regions and styles.
So here's his slide selection.
"Women behind the beauty" -- that's so often the case, isn't it!
ReplyDeleteThe suzani pieces are breathtakingly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe other side of the coin of the majesty and beauty of these artworks is that I am certain that there were many girls who had no interest at all in sitting and sewing and weren't very good at it, either. Did they get lousy husbands?
ReplyDeleteYou do not even want to know how I make tartar sauce but I will just say that sometimes the preparation for that is more laborious than for the fish!
Being a Newfoundlander, I ate cod. Now it’s occasionally haddock, which common on PEI. Never Hake though. I never see it to buy either.
ReplyDeleteMary, I suspect female relatives cheated with the stitching if there were a girl who hated it and couldn't do it well! Vital to get her a good match.
ReplyDeleteMarie, this hake is New Zealand wild caught. I don't think it's endangered.
It looks like a fine dinner.
ReplyDeleteYou remind me that I do love hake. Sea bass is my favourite though.
ReplyDeleteThat embroidery is . . . unbelievable. Incredible.
Talk about multitasking!
ReplyDeleteYou are quote the cook. We’re you a chef previously?
ReplyDeleteLiz, I've had sea bass but it's a bit high end and not very available to me. If it ever shows up in misfits, I'll be on it though.
ReplyDeleteSteve, it was a challenge to keep the screen clean. Not my best timing.
AC, that's a very nice thing to say. No, I'm all self taught. I've had a number of professions, as well as being a longtime exhibiting artist --public broadcaster, higher ed admin, antique dealer, pet care biz owner, freelance writer, teacher of French and Latin, etc, but cooking is an amateur interest.
In fact I avoided talking food for the first few years of blogging till I found people liked to read about it. I know people who love step by step and seeing presented food, and I like doing it.
No mention of how long it takes to make those embroidered pieces. Or really how they were used. But really impressive.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure they are wall hangings. But yes, he was very light on the kind of information makers would want to have. Have to go elsewhere for that.
ReplyDeleteYummy looking dinner.
ReplyDeleteHaven't tried hake and I don't think I've ever seen it in the stores here. Today I bought a big package of cod tails which we quite like. Looks as though your tartar sauce has pretty much the same ingredients as we use so no help there.
ReplyDelete