Wholesome Crusted Flathead

Preparation time: 20 minutes

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

Ingredients

5 slices Helga'sGluten Free Sunflower & Red Quinoa bread

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

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 black pepper

750gfathead fillets, halved if large

Olive oil spray

Quick lemon mayonnaise

2 eggyolks, atroom temperature

¼ tsp sea salt

1tsp Dijon style mustard

1 tbsp lemon juice

100ml vegetable oil

100ml extra virgin olive oil

To serve Lemon wedges

Sweet potato chips

Green salad

Method

Preheat ovento180C.

Tearbread into rough piecesand place on a large bakingtray. Drizzlewith 2 tablespoons ofthe olive oil and tossto coat. Bake 12 minutes oruntil toasted. Place bread pieces in a food processor along with parsley, chilli, garlic, pine nuts, salt and pepper and the remaining olive oil, and processinto rough crumbs. Linethe oventraywith baking paper and place fathead filletsonto the paper. Evenly pile and compressthe breadcrumb mixture on top offillets. Spraywitholive oil. Bake 10 minutes or until fesh isjust cooked through and crust has browned.

Meanwhile, to make lemon mayonnaise, place eggyolks,salt, mustard and lemon juice in a talljug. Combine oils and pour ontopofeggyolks. Place a stick blender intothe bottom ofthejug. Blend for 10 seconds, then slowly draw thestick blender up, thus pushing remaining oil intothe emulsion.Season with extra lemonjuice, mustard and salt, totaste. Servefsh with lemon mayonnaise, sweet potato chips and a green salad.

BY CHITRA SUDARSHAN

China rodayisfullof travellers . .

fron .

1 different parts of theworld. Although our tour covered four cities, itis thecityof Xi'an that leftthegreatest imprint. ModernXian isa large city andthecapital of Shaanxi Province in centralChina. Once known as Chang'an (Eternal Peace),itis fullof symbolism: itiswhere thegreat Silk Roadbegan; itwas theOldTangdynasty capital, and capitalof theZhou, Qin, [-Ian andTangdynasties and for manycenturies, thecentreof the Chinese Empire. ltwas notwithout significancethat Indian Prime MinisterModi met the Chinese President hereinMay, 2015. PresidentXiJinping travelledtoXiancowelcomeModi- the first time hehas doneso. Itis veryrare for Chinese leaders to accompany foreign guests outside Beijing. Xian also happens to be Xi's hometown.

Modern China isnowrevivingthe conceptof theSilkRoute andhas also Aoatedthe idea of aMaritime SilkRoad (MSR) asan expression of itsaspiration to develop astringof portsand coastal economic hubs alongits maritime trading routes.Thisencompassesd1eOneBelt OneRoad (OBOR)initiative,and theChina PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) atits core.Thesuccessof thisvisionwouldallow China to gate-crash as a powerful rule-maker of internationaltrade andcomrnerce,and iscentraltoBeijing'sriseasa matureglobal power.Xian is borh thecentreof ancient Chinaandtheharbingerof anew,inAuential andpowerful Chinaasaworldpower.

H.iscoricXian hasthree great sights co offer: TheOld CityWall and d1e Palace; the'\Xlild GoosePagoda and the famous Terracotta\Warriors.

XianCity\Xlall and the Old Palace are quite impressive. Once asophisticated defencesystem protecting China's ancient capital, Xia.n's 637-year old l\iling dynasty citywallis nowthe onlycompletewall fortification leftin China.After d1e establishmentof theMing dynastyin the 14"' century,ZhuYuanzhang, the first emperor, began to enlarge thewaU built initiallyduring theoldTangDynasty (618907), creating the modernXian City Wall.

TheSoud1 Gateof the City Wall is theimpressiveZhu Que gateway,where distinguished guestswere once greeted andwelcomedin times of yore.Reading thesignsand placards in the Old Pa.lace, I in1aginedhowin 645AD,whenthe great Xuanzhang returned to ChangJ\n after an arduous seventeen-year journeyco Indiavia the ancient SilkRoad,hewouldhavebeen warmlygreetedatd1atveryspotbythe Tangdynastychancellor FangXuanling

Today,you can rent bicycles and go riding

Tothehistorybuff,Xianhas several tales totell,and everyancientwall inXian remindsoneof Xuanzhang, thegreat medieval traveller andBuddhist scholar whocame to India during the reign of King Harsha.

For those uninitiated,Xuanzhangstarted off fromChang'an (ancient Xian), along the Silk Road in 629, in defiance of the TangEmperor's banontravel. Helped bysympathetic Buddhists, he travelled via Kumu�followingtheTianShan mountainstoTmpan. Hethencrossed whata.retodayKyrgystan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan,imoGandha.ra(modern Kandahar), reachinglndiain630AD.

Xuanzhang travelled throughoutthe Indian subcontinentfor thenext thirteenyears, visitingimportant Buddhist pilgrimagesires, studying at the ancient universityat alanda, and debatingtherivalsof Buddhism.

Afterreturning toChinaand having obtainedpermissionfrom d1eEmperor Gaozong (628-683),Xuanzhang, established theDaci'enmonasteryand,as thefirst abbot of the Daci'enTemple, supervised thebuildingof a pagodainside.

Oneof d1epagoda's manyfunctions was tohold the Sutrasand relicsof theBuddhathatwere brought to China from India byXuanzhang. With the support of royalty,he asked 50 'hierarchs'in the temple cotranslate Sanskrit sutrasinto Chinese, totalling ],335 volumes!

Even roday, thisWorldHeritageListed temple containspractising Buddhists in the monastery.

,, Every ancient wall inXianl'emindsone of Xuanzhang, the gl'eat medieval traveller and Buddhist scholarwho came to India dul"ingthe reign of King Harsha ,, alongthewall, and the view of the cityfrom the copof thewaUis quite impressive. Although Xianis apparently onlya 'secondtier' city, with a population of abour 14 million,ithas a large airport, wide roads,parks, shops andboastsseveral Indian restaurantsas well. Since the discoveryof d1eTerracotta Warriors,ithas become a popular tourist destination.

Thenow-famousTerracottaWarriors of Xian isa sight not to be missed byany visitor co China.Theyarethe thousandsof life-size, hand-mouldedfigureswhich were buried wid1 China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. 111e Terracotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archaeological excavations of the 20th century. Work is ongoing at d1is site,,vhich is around 1.5 kilometres eastof Emperor QinShi Huang's mausoleum in Lintong,a few kilometresfrom Xian. Upon ascendingthe throne at the ageof 13 (in246BC),Qin Shi Huang,laterd1e first Emperor of all China, had begun towork on his own mausoleum. lt tookhim I1yearstofinish the project. Each soldierlooksdifferent, and for rourists, there is the mandatoryvisitto the sitewheretheydemonstratehowthe figureswere made and manyshopping opportunities!

Modern Xian has excellentinfrastructure, wid1 averymodern airport, train station, wide boulevards,statelybuildings,good public transport, and several Indian restaura.nts aswell!