Fruit and Vegetable Carvings for Foodies

This is post by my friend Nathalie, who is a true foodie and the blogger behind Foodies Emporium. Check out her post about the cutest Bento boxes in Montreal. You can follow her on Twitter as Indigonat.

I visited “Saveurs & Tentations” trade-show recently in Montreal and I was mesmerized by Mia Bureau’s food carving creations. She really brings table decoration to a brand new level. Mia’s business, Éphémère is specialized in food carving installations for events, but she also gives workshops at her studio and at other venues.

I was so enthralled by what I saw that I started gathering information about this traditional Asian skill. Did you know that fruit and vegetable carving originated in Thailand during the floating lantern festival about 700 years ago? During that festival which happens every year during the full moon of December they thank the soul of water by decorating floating lanterns. The fruits and vegetable carved lanterns were so popular that it started a trend in the country.

We now find stunning fruits and vegetable carvings at high end hotels throughout Asia. You can even hire a fruit carver, like Mia, to create unique table ornaments for special events or weddings, even in North America, but be prepared to splurge because carving takes a lot of time. For example, to carve a watermelon, it can take up to 80 hours of work. You can see Mia in action by watching a few videos (the CTV interview is in English and the other ones are in French). Mia’s skills are recognized around the world as she won some international awards.

If you are into craft and would like to learn fruit carving, some cooking schools and some carving artists are giving classes. You can also learn by watching videos on You Tube or by buying books specialized in Fruit and vegetables carvings starting with these two books:

+ Food carving books for beginners: The Decorative Art of Japanese Food Carving: Elegant Garnishes for All Occasions $16.47 USD at Amazon.com [affiliate link]
+ Complete Step by Step Vegetable and Fruit Carving $39.95 USD

SOURCING:
+ Food carving lessons UK
+ Éphémère, Mia Bureau’s school and food carving business
+ first photo: @indigonat
+ CTV programming launch photo: Éphémère