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.
