With a paring knife in one hand and an orange in the other, Huang Ming-po, an art chef with the Sheraton Taipei Hotel, is ready to work. He scores the orange lightly and carefully peels away thin strips of skin. Then he takes another orange and carves out a mouth and two eye sockets, into which he places eyes made of cucumber skin. He attaches the strips to the bottom of the second orange with a toothpick, and–voila!—an octopus appears.
The 48-year-old Huang makes it all seem so simple. But he has been doing this for 30 years, since he first entered the culinary profession after graduating from junior high school. As a student, Huang loved to draw and paint, and as a chef he soon became fascinated by the color, shape and texture of fruit and vegetable. “I would buy books on vegetable carving techniques and try to copy the pictures,” he recalled.
“The secret to successful fruit carving is to have a good knowledge of the materials you work with and make good use of their characteristics,” Huang said.
Using the octopus as an example, he explained that the fruit skins are generally thicker around the stem and thinner toward the bottom. The eyes of the octopus were thus placed in the thicker part of the orange, while its tentacles were made of the more slender and flexible parts. “A main feature of the art is to exaggerate the object’s main characteristics and omit the rest,” he said.
According to Huang, the history of vegetable carving dates back to the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. “Back then, only very wealthy families, such as the royal household and the nobility, could afford to use fruit and vegetable for art.
“In imperial times, artists favored mythical creatures like dragons and phoenixes.
“But today things are different. Our contact with the West has changed our views, and we have began to appreciate things found in everyday life.”
Huang explained that knowledge of the history of vegetable carving is very limited, because only written testimonies remain—unlike woodcarvings or stoneware, vegetable pieces could not possibly be preserved.
“Our craft is also different from ice carvings, which quickly melt into pools of water,” he said. “Vegetable sculptures can be displayed at least twice, but water must be sprayed on them every two to three hours to prevent withering.”
Although the artwork can be fascinating, concerns have been raised over the unused parts of the materials. “Many people think food is wasted when an artist creates a piece, but that is not true,” he said, pointing to a watermelon pig nearby. “Take a look at this watermelon, for example. Its rind was used for decoration, but its pulp has been made into juice.
“As for the pig’s eyes, they were made from longan seeds that people usually throw away after eating the fruit. But after being soaked in water, the seeds can be preserved for a very long time.”
Longan, orange and watermelon are all typical fruit of Taiwan, with some grown year round, according to Huang.
“The nation is abundant in agricultural goods. We can find very cheap produce year-round, unlike Hong Kong and Singapore, both of which have to rely on imports.” This is Taiwan’s strength in vegetable carving, as the art requires fresh materials, he said.
Huang’s technique has been gradually refined over his many years of practice. “In the early days, I would imitate and carve figurative objects, such as the birds, phoenixes, lions and dragons that I saw in temples.
“Then I began to study their structure, things like body ratio and bone composition. Based on my studies I eventually created my own original pieces.”
Lions made from bell peppers and broccolis demonstrate Huang’s belief that it is necessary to make good use of the material’s characteristics.
Huang’s creativity, perseverance and contributions to vegetable sculpture have been recognized the world over. In addition to receiving gold and silver medals at the Food and Hotel Asia International Salon Culinaire in Singapore, he was awarded its Most Outstanding Artist in 1996. Last year he was designated Taiwan’s Most Outstanding Chef by the ROC Restaurant and Beverage Vocational Association.
When the Taipei Sheraton upgraded its food carving division into the Food Modeling Center in 2008, Huang was appointed art chef.
To Huang, vegetable sculpture greatly improves the dining atmosphere. “Restaurants used to put their emphasis on the quantity and quality of their foods, but now they are beginning to pay more attention to the dining atmosphere and the decorations that come with the dishes,” he said.
When customers leave his restaurant, they often ask for permission to take the vegetable carvings home, according to Huang.
Asked what he thinks of the future of vegetable carving in Taiwan, Huang said many culinary schools throughout Taiwan now offer courses on the subject. It is good that art carving techniques are being passed down from one generation to the next, he said. (HZW)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw