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Ecuadorian carved fruit
Fruit carving
is the art of carving fruit, a very common technique in Europe and
Asian countries, and particularly popular in Thailand, China and Japan.
There are many fruits that can be used in this process; the most popular
one that artists use are watermelons, apples, strawberries, pineapples,
and cantaloupes.
Contents
- 1 History
- 1.1 China
- 1.2 Europe
- 1.3 Thailand
- 1.4 Japan
- 2 Overview
- 3 Artists
- 4 Fruit carving today
- 5 See also
- 6 References
History
China
Many
believe that fruit carving originated in China during the Tang Dynasty,
which lasted from AD 618-906. Fruit carving in China usually features
mythological creatures, and animals. Not only is fruit carving used in
cultural and traditional ceremonies, but also ordinary households are
known for decorating plates with fruit carvings when they have guests
over. Specifically, watermelon carving has been and still is very
popular in China. Usually, the outside of the melon is carved on and the
melon pulp is scraped out of the inside of the melon, so it can be used
as a container to put food or flowers in. Chinese fruit carving is used
to tell their legends and stories.
[1]
Europe
Fruit carving is included in Matthias Giegher's 1621 work
Il Trinciante
("The Carver"), where he describes carving oranges and citrons into
abstract patterns, shell-fish, four-legged animals and the Hapsburgs'
double-headed eagle, but the art was not common in Europe or North
America until the 1980s when several books on the topic were published.
[2]
Thailand
See also: Thai fruit carving
A platter of Thai fruit carvings
Fruit
carving is a significant part of Thai cultural heritage. Watermelon
carving dates to the 14th century in Thailand during the Sukhothai dynasty. The annual Loi Krathong Festiva
occurs each November where people in Thailand float lamps and lanterns
down a river to honor water spirits. One legend is that one of the
king’s maids decorated her lantern with a watermelon carved with flower
designs to impress him and that he was so pleased that he encouraged all
Thai women to adopt the practice. The king also requested that fruit
carving become part of the primary school curriculum.
[3] Thailand fruit carving features flowers, birds and floral patterns.
[4]
Japan
The
Japanese emphasize the presentation of a dish and how the plate
aesthetically appeals to others. Fruit carving in Japan is referred to
as Mukimono.
Mukimono began in ancient Japan in an effort to make dishes more
appealing since the food was placed and served on an unglazed pottery
plate, which had a rough look to it. Chefs would cover the plate in
leaves and would fold them into different designs in order to make the
dish look better.
[5]This
technique eventually turned into carving fruit that would also be
placed on the plates to enhance the appearance of the dish. At first,
when this technique came out, vendors on the streets would add carved
fruit to their food when customers made a special request, but now it is
very common for all Japanese dishes to feature carved fruits. Fruit
carving and garnishing is now a significant part of Japanese chef
training.
[6]
Overview
A fruit carving on a watermelon in Armenia
The
art of fruit carving uses many different tools, usually ordinary items
but some specific to just fruit carving. All these tools give the
artwork a different texture or help with its design. Some of the tools
include:
- Pen: to draw on the carving one wishes to make
- Carving Knife: most commonly used for giving the carving shape
- Peel Zester: this tool is used to create strips and grooves
- Melon Baller: can be used for a variety of fruit to add ball shaped fruit carvings to the display
- U
shaped garnish tool: used to cut the outer layer of the fruit. This
tool is used for fine detailed work. Many fruit carvers use this tool to
create a pedals for a flower shape they are carving.
- V shaped formed cutter: is used in a similar way as the U shaped garnish tool but for larger carving ideas.[7]
Before
carving a fruit, the necessary materials must be gathered. The usual
process is to have the tools handy for when they are needed in one's
steps towards creating a carving. There are two types of carvings that
can be done. The first is Skin Carving, this is when the outer skin of
the fruit (or vegetable) is carved to reveal the fleshy center, where
the color is different than the outer skin to create a design using the
contrast between the outer skin and flesh of the fruit. The second type
of carving is Three Dimensional Carving, the purpose of this particular
technique of carving is to carve the fruit to into a three dimensional
object of the carver’s choice. The most popular three dimensional design
is floral objects.
[8]
It is easy to over-carve a fruit which leads to loss in nutrition, but
it is always important to start off by outlining your carving on the
fruit. Depending on the design that is being created it may take very
little time or be more complex and use more time and concentration also
different steps in the process are used for each design. Not one design
is alike. An important aspect of fruit carving is that the fruit you
carve must be suitable for the manner which one will display it. Most
fruit carvings will need to be refrigerated before they are placed in
the specific setting that is desired.
[9][10]
Artists
There
are many artists and chefs who are known for their fruit carving
skills. Each has a different technique. Many of these chefs have
previously owned restaurants and now hold classes in this art.
Valeriano
Fatica is an Italian fruit carver, known through his videos on Youtube
that has attracted people to his artwork around the world. He has carved
many different fruits at a large scale.
[11]
Jimmy
Zhang is a fruit carver from China. He has won many awards in the
culinary area and has also been featured in many newspapers across the
globe for his skills. He teaches classes on how to carve fruit and
vegetables and master the skills and learn history about the way China
has created its fruit carving industry.
[12]
Carl
Franklin Jones, an expert in the art of fruit carving, practices in the
United States. He is known for his fruit carving sculpture that was
created for Ivanka Trump's wedding. He also holds a catering businesses
in Tennessee. Jones was a business owner of many franchises also in
Tennessee before starting his catering business. Today Jones travels the
world and hosts mentoring programs for young ambitious fruit carving
artists and chefs.
[13]
Fruit carving today
Some people perform fruit carving professionally.
[14] Some chefs utilize fruit carving as a culinary
technique. Once fruit carvers have mastered the techniques past the
intermediate stage and become professionals, they can price their
services to restaurants, professional caterers, hotels and resorts.
Professional fruit carvers can also create centerpieces and displays for
various events, such as parties and wedding receptions. On a smaller
scale, fruit carvers can present a dish with decorative garnishing to
add an aesthetically pleasing experience to their viewers.
[15]
See also
- Fruit pit carving
- Mukimono – the traditional Japanese art of decorative garnishing
- Vegetable carving
References
- ^ "The Exquisite Art of Food Carving". cultural-china.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ Abramson, Julia (2009). "Vegetable carving: for your eyes only". In Friedland, Susan R. Vegetables: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2008. Oxford Symposium. pp. 9–18. ISBN 9781903018668. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ "History of Carving". The Garnish Guy. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "History". thaicarving.co.uk.
- ^ "History of Carving". The Garnish Guy. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "Fruit Carving Tutorials — How To Carve Fruits & Vegetables - Temple of Thai". Temple of Thai. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "Fruits carving tools, patterns, knife - Melon baller - Peeler, Zester Tool - v shaped cutter -Paring knife". fruitsinfo.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "Fruit carving, Vegetable carving, Carving knives-tools for sale". Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "Thai Fruit & Vegetable Carving - Asian Recipes". asian-recipe.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "Fruit Carving Tutorials — How To Carve Fruits & Vegetables - Temple of Thai". Temple of Thai. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "People Are Obsessing Over This Watermelon Carving On Reddit". 20 July 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "Press - Art Chef in the Press". Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "Fruit Carving artist". Premier Place Catering. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ Dansilp, T.; Freeman, M. (2002). Things Thai. Periplus. p. 51. ISBN 978-962-593-776-2.
- ^ "Fruit Carving: Seasons Catering & Special Events, Lexington, KY". Retrieved 5 December 2015.
