Collage - Journal 1932...

Collage - Journal 1932...

Monday, July 27, 2009

Scorpion fish ??????? and a.........

(Scorpion Fish)

...taste of Ocean delight….even if you are not in Cap d’Antibes………

.…If you have some Scorpion fish from the Mediterranean deep waters or maybe some other little fish from the Scorpaenidae family around the kitchen, olive oil, saffron, fennel, leeks, garlic, Pernod, dry Muscadet,
and some more fish – red snapper, blue mouth, grouper, sea bass, mahi-mahi, conger eel and shark…..well, you also need……..a lot of time (approximately 4 hours) because we are talking about

Bouillabaisse…..from the Coastal Regions of Provence, France
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We have heard since childhood that you should experience your Bouillabaisse in Marseilles and if the fish is not fresh from the Mediterranean – do not attempt it – well, it comes to those days when you are to tired to fly around the world (for a week or so) why not try it wherever you are…..it is proven that some places are just as excellent as well….. what about your own kitchen? …take your time and pay attention to detail - pick your fish with care………the uniqueness is your own spices from your spice garden………
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A Travellers (variation) Bouillabaisse...

  • 10 pounds of (white- fish), red snapper, monk fish, halibut, grouper

  • 5 pounds of (fat/oily fish), sea bass,eel, mahi-mahi, bluefish (here add some fresh lobster.....we need that lobster)

  • 5 tbs of unsalted butter

  • 2 sliced medium size onions

  • 2 finely chopped large onions

  • 2 bouquet tied in a cheese cloth consisting of - 12 peppercorn, 6 sprigs of thyme, 1 bay leaf, 4 sprigs of fresh cilantro

  • 1 cup of dry wine

  • 1 1/2 cups extra virgin oil (the best you can afford)

  • 8 finely chopped garlic cloves

  • Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled stepped in 1/4 cup hot water

  • 3 to 4 finely chopped stalks of celery

  • 3 thinly length wise sliced leeks

  • 2 pounds of plum tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped

  • 1 strip orange zest

  • 1 tbs fennel seed

  • 1/2 teaspoon saffron treads in 1/4 cup dry white wine

  • sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper to your taste

  • 2 tbs tomato paste

  • 2 tbs Pernod

  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

  • Serve with some thin sliced potatoes with olive oil and Rosemary and oregano (or herbs the Provence) (bake in the oven) to be served with the fish)



You need the fillets, heads, carcasses and tails - cut it all to approximately 4 x 3 - inch pieces...

Wash the fish in cold water - Melt the butter over medium heat , cook the onions about 4 to 6 minutes - just to soften them, heads, add the fish heads and bones add the cold water and 1 garni + white whine.Bring to a boil and then let simmer (on low heat) for approximately 2 hours.

The strain the fish broth and save the fish broth.

Marinate the fish in a ceramic bowl with 1/4 of the olive oil, half of the garlic, and the saffron treads - keep it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

15 minutes of stirring over medium heat - in your stockpot - 1/1/4 olive oil, celery, leeks, chopped onions then bring to boil and then let simmer for 40 minutes (low heat), the tomatoes, 1 bouquet garni, the orange zest, and fennel seeds - the fish broth - the saffron stepped in wine - sea salt and pepper.

Ready - bring the broth back to a boil, boil, boil, the oil has to emulsify. Now add the fat/oily fish and boil for 8 minutes then add the white fish an boil, boil, boil for another 6 minutes - make sure there is enough water to cover the fish...

Mix Pernod and the tomato paste....

Remove the fish from the pot and transfer it to a deep nice platter - cover it...to keep warm - garnish the platter with some fresh Rosemary

A soup terrine for the fish broth - make sure to strain it first...and finish it of with adding the Pernod/paste mixture.

Make some Sauce rouille ........

...Ready to Serve....
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The culinary experience builds culture bridges and more understanding for other cultures...it is here we sit down and talk about life, philosophy, arts, travels, music....foods....."this taste like...I remember an evening when we were in.....Southern France...let me tell you...this story"....we smile, laugh, toast, and feel good, life is beautiful.........
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&
more music
close your eyes for two minutes........and listen..

Saturday, July 25, 2009

White Hunters of the "Dark Continent".......Harry Selby...and writer Robert Ruark...

Selby with a Greater Kudu
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Born in South Africa in 1925 - For 50 years he hunted on the African continent - At the age of 43 in 1968 - he left Kenya and moved to Botswana - this was the White Hunter, who shot his first antelope at 8, and his first elephant at 14. He become one of Africa's most recognized and respected White Hunters.
.Selby and Ruark
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Writer Robert Ruark first hunting expedition was lead by Selby.(Selby meet Ernest Hemingway briefly in East Africa in 1953.) - Selby's expedition changed Ruarks life and he come to be part of many more safaris in his life. The result of the Safari - Ruark wrote "Horn of the Hunter" one of the most famous books written about safari life - Selby retired from being a White Hunter as late as year 2000.
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Monday, July 20, 2009

Agion Oros - Mount Athos - The Holy Mountain.....

(Photo by Tavarua)

.....a fragrant smoke of aromatic complexity reached my senses - incense - the chant of the monks, the hymns made me think about...
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Facsimile of a 13th century German manuscript

Carl Orff's cantata for chorus and orchestra has made it famous.
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Carl Orff
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.....Carmina Burana (Medieval Latin Poetry and texts from the 11th and 12th century)...composed by Carl Orff in 1937, I made this journey to Mount Athos - established in year 963, located in the peninsula of Halkidiki - Macedonia and the eastern of the three "legs" of Halkidiki - in the 1980's. Unfortunately, I have lost a lot of my photos during the years.....but I will here post one icon I still bring with me around the world "Under Canvas." The above icon was brought back from the Holy City of Karyes, Mount Athos. You can only access Athos from the Aegean Sea and you are required to have a special permit approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This I had (a 4 day permit), and entered into the world of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Monasteries....Athos full of mysticism and religious contemplation. ...It is far much more known today than it was in the 80s. If you could get a permit to visit it would be well worth it...(only males are permitted) The treasures from medieval times, holy relics...are invaluable...St. Panteleimon Monastery, founded in the 11th century is the largest monastery, a Russian Orthodox Monastery (there are approximately 20 monastaries). Here was a fascinating part - when I visited there were still a few monks alive in their late fall of life remembering Tsar Nikolai.....of "White" Russia
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Do not forget life it is not as long as you think it is......


What I am ...You will be.....What you are ....
I was

Friday, July 17, 2009

The Nomad....

( A few more...photos...of those travel carpets...I live with "Under Canvas"...)
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The Oriental Rug.…

I have seen generations and great cultures come and go,
I am evolution and a nomad who have traveled from far away land,
I have been part of camel caravans in the Orient, Empires, and Harems,
I lived among Arab tribes in High Atlas, Mongols, Royal Courts, in Foreign land;
I have crossed the deserts and seen arid lands, sailed the Seven Seas, trekked through Mountain passes, and frozen stiff under severe cold in Siberia,
I have been slept, prayed, meditated, sat, walked, and dined on,
It has been battles fought around me, passionate love, political discussions, secrets of significant importance has been exchanged in my presents,
I have dined with the Head of States, Royal families, fisherman, tradesmen, warriors, smugglers and pirates alike,
I have lived in tents, stately homes, palaces and simple huts,
I am surrounded by mystery of life,
People have tried to analyze my characteristics,
I am an Artist, a Poet and a Legend, a little faded but you can still see the sparkle of life in my soul,
I have stories to tell of our origins...from Shirvan, Soumak, Bokhara, Samarkand, Damascus, Turkestan, and Central Asia we came, maybe one day, one evening, in front of that old fireplace with winter so cold a story or two will be told……
I was there in the past and I will be there in the future - who am I ?
I am the Oriental Rug……

- "Tavarua"
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(All Photos in this Post by Tavarua)

...45 minutes with my Camera...Instant Moments Captured...Somewhere in Europe....

(All Photos in This Post by Tavarua)
"You don't take a photograph, you make it."
- Ansel Adams
. (All Photos in This Post by Tavarua)
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Sharpness is a bourgeois concept. - Henri Cartier-Bresson
. You have to hurry up if you want to see something, everything disappears. - Paul Cezanne
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. .Photography concentrates one’s eye on the superficial. For that reason it obscures the hidden life which glimmers through the outlines of things like a play of light and shade. One can’t catch that even with the sharpest lens. One has to grope for it by feeling. - Franz Kafka
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Of all forms of expression, photography is the only one which seizes the instant in its flight. - Henri Cartier-Bresson
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Lifestyles....
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. Sometimes we have to look into the picture - instead of - at the picture to discover the photographers message...

It's no good saying "hold it" to a moment in real life. - Lord Snowdon

. The photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality. - Henri Cartier-Bresson .

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Photography is nothing--it's life that interests me. - Henri Cartier-Bresson
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In a portrait, I’m looking for the silence in somebody. - Henri Cartier-Bresson
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"Fish-eye"...............

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

If I was a Map or a Compass, I would lead you on a Voyage around the Globe....



If I was the Sun, there would be no more cold days,
If I was an Iceberg, there would be no more arid days,
If I was a River, You would be a raindrop merging with me into the Ocean of Life,
If I was the rays from the Sun, Your heart would always be warm,
If I was a fountain, the water you would drink would taste like the purest nectar,
If I was a book, I would give you the rarest of knowledge and wisdom,
If I was the wind, I would fill every breath you take with the freshness of a cold winter day,
If I was the morning, I would be the morning mist over the treetops in the rainforest for your early awakening,
If I was the evening, I would give you the colors of the dawn in the horizon for your life’s canvas,
If I was the night, I would be the nightingale that would sing in your dreams,
If I was the music from an orchestra, I would be the most magnificent classical tones you could dance to,
If I was silence, there would always be peace to your noble heart,
If I was the East, the West, the North and the South, I would be the direction in all your travels, and
If I was a Sundial, I would give you all the time in the world.

- "Tavarua"

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Day Before Today.......and Today - Tomorrow will be Yesterday..One Day - it is now History...


In the above photo I am thinking... a bottle of Chateau Lafite (1970) but that evening it turned to...bear with me ...and first of all there are two things that belongs to History.....which will create History - the Written word and Art.....
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The Joy of Life by Henri Matisse
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The above Painting by Matisse - Women - Living Sculptures -Wine, the drink of the Gods - Wine - Those noble grapes - The nectar of life...and Art and Wine
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Chateau Mouton Rothschild
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1960 - Artist - Jaques Villon
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In 1945 Baron Philippe commissioned painter Philippe Jullian to create a graphic piece of art based on the "V" sign made by Sir Winston Churchill during the war.
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1963 - Artist - Bernard Dufour
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In 1946 a contemporary artist was commissioned every year to create an original work to illustrate the label on the bottle.
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1968 - Artist - Bona Tibertelli
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Every artist assigned to this project can here free his/her mind and follow his own way of creativity and inspiration......
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1963 - Artist - Pablo Picasso
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1998 - Artist - Rufino Tamayo