The Mad Housewife Mystique - Black Sesame-Crusted Mahi-Mahi

Have you ever noticed how every month Vanity Fair magazine has a famous quote on its cover in teeny tiny print?  You’ll miss it if you aren’t looking for it.  Is it a clue?  A message for some secret society?  It drives me crazy.  I have to figure it out. 

 

A few months ago the cover sported a quote from the twentieth century writer-philosopher Simone de Beauvoir: “One is not born a woman, one becomes one.”  The feature was on Meryl Streep, a woman who seems in many ways to define woman—because of the many types of women she has portrayed, and because she is so down to earth, seemingly fulfilled in her life and career.

Beauvoir, as the mother of feminism and an existentialist, believed that existence precedes essence, hence any woman could choose to elevate herself above any preconceived notion of femininity, as well as any notion that she should fashion herself after the male ideal. 

Easier said than done.  Invariably as young women we try to conform to expectations of what it is to be a woman—to make ourselves attractive to men, to succeed in the workplace (brilliantly but without becoming a bitch), to be a good mate, a good mother.  It is what makes the Mad Housewife mad—trying to be all things to all people.  But at some point we must stop to ask ourselves, “What do I want out of life?  What kind of woman do I want to be?”

 

To the feminists, we must be grateful.  The first wave started in the 19^th century with women fighting for the right to vote and the right to divorce.   The second wave in the fifties and sixties demanded equal rights in the workplace, reproductive rights, and the right to box professionally and ride motorcycles.  The third, and current, wave of feminism wants those rights for everybody, regardless of race, social class, country, and sexual preference.  Third-wave feminists want women to be seen as intelligent, political beings with diverse, positive unglamorized female representatives in pop culture.  They want to eliminate the portrayal of woman as a sexualized object.

 

Hold on a second!  No one is going to convince me that being a woman is to NOT be sexy.  Come on now!  Sexy is powerful!  Sexy is fun!  You want me to give up nail polish and high heels?  You want me to wear Eileen Fisher?

 

The current wave of feminism seems to miss, as Beauvoir so aptly put, that “Perhaps these differences [between men and women] are superficial, perhaps they are destined to disappear. What is certain is that they do most obviously exist.”  

 

What has been lost in our feminist battle—in our quest to become equal to men—is the concept of woman as represented by the ancient Greek goddesses: Venus, the goddess of love and beauty; Hera, the goddess of the home and hearth; Athena, the goddess of wisdom, crafts, and heroic endeavor.  Beauty, nurturing and grace, creativity and justice. 

 

The Greeks knew what the producers of Sex in the City knew.  Women enjoy being beautiful.  They are meant to spread beauty everywhere, to inspire songs, art, and poetry because of their beauty.  They are fertility goddesses.

 

So this evening, before dinner, while you relax and sip your glass of Mad Housewife wine, make a libation to the goddesses.  One sip for Venus and know you are beautiful, one sip for Hera and know you are nurturing and good, and one sip for Athena and know you are creative and can kick ass if you have to.  The goddesses live! 

 

Black Sesame-Crusted Mahi-Mahi

 

This easy and elegant dish is a study in contrasts—the fish, the black-seeded crust, the two lively sauces.  Beautiful and scrumptious.  Serve with Mad Housewife Chardonnay.

 

Serves two:

 

¼ cup black sesame seeds (or poppy seeds)

2 skinless mahi-mahi fillets (halibut, grouper, or salmon also work)

1 Roma tomato

2 potatoes, sliced thin

1 lime

1 bunch Italian parsley

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup balsamic vinegar

½ cup sugar

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon butter

salt and pepper

1 orange or yellow bell pepper, shaved

 

1.     To make parsley sauce, place parsley, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, fennel seed, a pinch of salt and pepper into a blender.  Set aside in easy pour cup, or squeeze bottle.

2.     To make balsamic sauce, combine vinegar and sugar and boil until reduced to ½ cup.  Set aside in easy pour cup, or squeeze bottle.

3.     Slice tomato, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and microwave for 45 seconds, or until lightly stewed.

4.     Place sliced potatoes in a little bit of water in glass bowl and microwave for 3 minutes or until done.

5.     Pour sesame seeds on a dinner plate.  Press top side of the fish into the seeds. 

6.     In a nonstick frying pan, melt butter, and cook fish seeded side down first.  Flip after 2-3 minutes.  Cover and finish cooking in 2-3 minutes.  Splash in some water if dry. 

7.     Arrange potato slices overlapping in a line down the center of the plate.  Place fish on top.  Place one stewed tomato on fish.  Drizzle sauces around the fish.  Squeeze lime over fish.  Garnish with shaved bell pepper.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

 

Comments

[writing essays]

Excellent post! I think you've encapsulated the mission of this blog and our challenge.