Wholesome Crusted Flathead

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 22 minutes c;.iP-,VP-c:. 4-6

Ingredients

5 slices Helga's Gluten Free Sunf l ower & Red Quinoa bread

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oi l

½ cup chopped parsley leaves

1 long chilli, finely chopped (remove and discard seeds)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/3 cup pine nuts

Sea salt and ground b lack pepper

750g f lathead fillets, halved if large

Olive oil spray

Quick lemon mayonnaise

2 egg yolks, at room temperatu re

¼ tsp sea salt

1 tsp Dijon style mustard

1 tbsp lemon juice

100m l vegetable oil

100ml ext ra virgin olive oil

To serve

Lemon wedges

Sweet potato chips

Green salad

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Tear bread into rough pieces and pl ace on a large baking tray. Drizzle wi t h 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and toss to coat. Bake 12 minutes or until toasted. Place bread pieces in a food processor along with parsley, chilli, garlic, pine nuts, salt and pepper and the remaining oliv e oil, and process i nto rough crumbs. Line the oven tray with baking paper and place f lat head fi l lets ont o the paper. Evenly pile and compress the breadcrumb mixture on top of fil l ets. Spray with olive oil. Bake 10 m i nutes or until f lesh is just cooked through and crust has browned.

Meanwhile, to make lemon mayonnaise, place egg yolks, salt, mustard and lemon juice in a tall jug. Combine oils and pour on top of egg yolks. Place a stick blender into the bottom of the jug. Blend for 10 seconds, then slowly draw the s t ick blender up, thus pushing rema i ning oi l into the emulsion. Season wit h extra lemon juice, mustard and salt, to taste. Ser ve f ish with lemon mayonnaise, sweet potato chips and a green salad.

BY CHITRA SUDARSHAN

China today is full of travellers fro m different parts of the world. Although our tour covered four cities, it is the c ity of Xi'an that l eft the greatest imprint. Modern Xian is a large city and the capital of S haanxi Province in central China Once known as Chang'an (Eternal Peace), it is full of symbolism: it is where the great Silk Road began; it was the Old Tang d ynasty capital, and capital of the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang d ynasties and for many cenmries, the centre of the Chinese Empire. It was not without significance di at Indian Prime Minister Modi met the Chinese President here in May, 2 015. President Xi Jin ping travelled to Xian co welcome :tv[odi - the fi rst time he has done so It is very rare fo r Chinese leaders to accompan y fore ign guests m1tside Beijing Xian also happens to be Xi 's homecown.

Modern China is now reviving die concept of die Silk Rome and has also Aoated d1e idea of a Maritime Silk Road (MSR) as an expression of i ts aspiration to develop a string of ports and coastal economic hubs along its maritime t:rnding routes. This encompasses the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, and t he China Pakistan E conomic Corridor (CPEC) a t its core. The success of this visio n would allow China to gate-crash as a powerful rule -ma ker of international trade and commerce, and is central to Beijing's r ise as a mature g lobal poweL Xian is both d1e centre of ancient China and the harbinger of a new, inAuential and powerful China as a world power.

Historic Xian has three great sights to offer: The O ld City Wall and the Palace; the Wild Goose Pagoda and the famous Terracotta Warriors.

Xian City \'(fall and die O ld Palace are quite impressive Once a sophisticated defe nce system protecting China's ancient capital, Xian's 637-yea r old j\,[iog dynasty city wall is now d1e only complete wall forti fication left in China. After the establishment of die Ming d ynasty in t he 14'h century, Zhu Yuanzhan g, d1e fi rst emperor, began to enlarge d1e wall built initially during d1e o ld Tang D ynasty (618907), creating the modern Xian City \X1all.

The Soudi Gate of the City \'(/all is the impressive Zhu Que gateway, where distinguished guests were o nce greeted and welcomed in times o f yo re. Reading the signs and placards in die Old Palace, I imagined how in 6451\.D, when die great Xuanzhang returned to Chang An after an arduous seventeen- year journey to India via the ancient Silk Road, he would have been warmly greeted at di at very spot b y d1e

Tang d ynas ty chancellor Fang Xuanling Today, yo u can rent bicycles and go riding

To die history buff, Xian has several tales co tell, and evecy ancient wall in Xian reminds one o f Xuanzhang, the great medieval traveller and Buddhist scholar wbo came to India during die reign of King Harsha.

For those w1initiated, Xuanzhang started off from Chang'an (ancient Xian), along t he Silk Road in 629, in defiance of the Tang Emperor's ban o n travel. Helped by sympadietic Buddhists, he travelled via Kumul, following the Tian Shan mountains to Turpan. He then crossed what are coday K yrgys tan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, into Gandhara (m odem Kandahar), reaching India in 630 AD. Xuanzhang travelled throughout the Indian subcontinent for the next diitteen years, visiting important Buddhist pilgrimage sites, studying at die ancient university at Nalanda, and debating the rivals o f Buddhism.

After returning to China and having obtained permission from the Empero r Gaozong (628- 683), Xuanzhang, established di e Daci'en monaster y and, as d1e first abbot of the Daci'en Temple, supervised die building of a pagoda inside.

One of die pagoda's man y functions was to hold the Sutras and relics of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by Xuanzhang With tbe support of royalty, he asked 50 'hierarchs' in the temple to translate Sanskrit sutras into Chi nese, cocallin g 1,335 volumes!

Even today, t his World Heri tage Listed temple contains practising Buddhists in the m onastery

,, Every ancient wall in Xian reminds one of Xuanzhang, the great medieval traveller and Buddhist scholar who came to India during the reign of King Harsha ,, along t he wall, and die v iew of the city from di e top of die wall is quite impressive Although Xian i s apparendy only a 'second tier' city, widi a population of about 14 million, it has a large airport, wide roads, parks, shops and boasts several Indian restaurants as well. Since the d iscover)' of d1e Terracotta Warriors, i t has become a popular courist destination.

Tbe now- famous Terracotta Warriors of Xian is a sight nor to be missed by any visi t or co China They are the d1ousands of life-size, hand-moulded figures whi ch were buried wid1 China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. The Terracotta Warriors and H orses are the most significant archaeological excavations of die 20th century \'>Yo r k is ongoin g at this site, which i s around 1 5 kilometres east of E mperor Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum in Lintong, a few ki lometres from Xian Upon ascending die throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC) , Qin Shi Huang, l at er the first Emperor of aJJ China, had begun to work on bis own mausoleum. Ir took bin1 1 1 yea rs to finish the project.

Each soldier looks different, a nd for tourists, there is die mandatory vis it to d1e s ite where t hey demonstrate how t he figures ,vere made and many shopping oppornmities!

Modern Xian has excellent i nfrastr ucture, with a very modern airport, train station, wide boulevards, scate.ly buildings, good public transport, and several Indian restaurants as \veil!