MEAT IS MURDER

2 medium leeks

2 quarts cold water

2 large carrots

2 medium turnips, peeled and sliced

1 medium onion, sliced

2 large stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces

3 large sprigs Italian parsley

2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut up

2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and quartered

2 bay leaves

2 large basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon whole peppercorns

2 green zucchini, trimmed and cut up

½ pound green beans, trimmed and cut up

1   tablespoon salt

Remove roots from leeks and trim off the rough darker leaves.  Cut leeks lengthwise in half, and each half again lengthwise.  Cut into 3-inch pieces and drop into a large basin with plenty of cold water.  Wash thoroughly, spreading the leaves apart to remove the dirt.  Place in a large stockpot with 2 quarts of cold water and all the other ingredients.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for approximately ½ hour.   Strain through a fine strainer.

NOTE 1:  The vegetables used to make the broth can be served as a side dish.  Season them with 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. 

From:  Edda Servi Machlin, The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews, Croton on Hudson, Giro Press, 1982.

 

Note 2: Having now essayed the Miso Soup/Hollow Man Diet (100% miso soup all the time) for a week or so, prefatory to a self-imposed stay-on-it-until-the-diet-is-finished régime, I think I will occasionally substitute this broth for sustenance.  As much as I like miso soup, and as many subtle ways as it can be varied, it does become boring.

Edda Servi Machlin’s book is wonderful and a classic itself.  Taking it down from my bookshelf this cold, gray morning, I noticed that my mother had the volume inscribed by the author, a nice discovery.   Although many of the dishes Ms. Machlin writes about are more obviously enticing than this spartan soup, this is a richly appealing, harmonious, subtle and "complete" recipe.  To imbibe the brodo together with its dressed vegetable parents, as Ms. Machlin recommends, at a solitary table sounds to me like a launching pad for enlightenment.

However, for readers unable to muster my (or any) level of excitement in the plain company of a brodo vegetale recipe, I have also provided Edward Burne-Jones' drawing below for delectation.  A sketch of Aglaia Coronio (link), model for the right-hand figure in Burne-Jones’ 1882 painting The Mill in the Victoria & Albert Museum, who died under tragic circumstances in 1906, Ms. Coronio was in the news this week as the original owner of Burne –Jones' astonishing full-scale 1871 sketch series for Days of Creation (link), which Bonham’s London will be auctioning on January 23d.

The Smiths -- Meat Is Murder (Link)

Friday Low High -- Jade Mirror

The 18th century Mughal gem-set gold-mounted jade mirror is from Northern India. It is estimated to sell for £40,000 to £60,000. Photo: Bonhams. 

Jade Mirror Once Owned By Indian and Danish Royalty For Sale At Bonham's

     

LONDON.- 

             An object that once reflected Indian perfection, a jade backed mirror, the property of a Mughal Princess, or Maharanee, is one of many fascinating items in Bonhams sale of Indian and Islamic Art on April 24th in New Bond Street. This lovely oval carved work of art in white jade has passed through the hands of two royal houses – Indian and later Danish. It is estimated to sell for £40,000 to £60,000. 

           Mirrors were used by courtiers, courtesans and royals alike. Miniature paintings of maidens looking at their own reflection while being perfumed and groomed are numerous and reflect the highly valued standards of beauty and personal care at the court. Alice Bailey, Head of Islamic and Indian Art comments, “Jade carving at the Mughal court was of superior craftsmanship and pieces of this quality are highly sought after. Chinese jade carvings have topped auction estimates in recent years and fine works of Indian jades are expected to do the same.”

      The 18th century Mughal gem-set gold-mounted jade mirror is from Northern India. It is oval, with the top a carved knot in the form of a bud, the base with short handle in the form of a three leaf acanthus stem, the back carved in relief with a central medallion containing a flowering plant, within a band of flowering vine, the terminal set with a cabochon ruby, the front with bevelled mirror glass, within a gold band set with rubies and emeralds, the outer edge carved with a chevron design, in a fitted case.

      The most striking and unique contribution of Mughal lapidaries to jade craftsmanship was probably the use of gold and brightly coloured gem-stones, all of which served to exhibit the lavishness of Mughal nobility for which India was renowned. A group of Mughal mirrors attributed to the 17th Century can be found in the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad. The naturalistic treatment of the flowers draws comparison with the designs found on architectural panels of the 17th Century, in particular the Red Fort, the Diwani-Khas and other buildings of Shah Jahan's period. The chevron band also appears on Mughal buildings of this era. Parallels can also be found on bidri ware from the Deccan.

 

NOTE:  

    Seeing this beauty draws light into an  darkling day.   No big deal; the feeling will pass.  

     It’s just that you can’t turn on the television, pick up the phone or open   computer communications without getting that incoming fire feeling succeeded quickly and inevitably by a Night Of The Living Dead Zombie Assault.    

           Remembering the wars that were measured, named in years:  Seven Years War, Thirty Years War, etc.   This one seems already to be the Forever War of the Living Dead and feels, for  lack of a better descriptive term, Orwellian, a real Shot by Both Sides exercise.

    I would like to own this mirror so that I could give it to my wife and daughter, and our cats, dogs, fish and birds, who would all grace its reflections beautifully.