While Maria Guyomar de Pinha, better known as Thao Thong Kip Ma, was experimenting with Thai ingredients in Portuguese desserts and quickly turning them into Thai delicacies, the inventive cooks in another palace in Sukhothai were thinking up ways to make the main dishes more appealing.
Fruit and vegetable carving emerged in the 13th or 14th century in the Sukhothai royal courts in central Thailand to decorate tables and satisfy the royal dishes rules of “food for mouth, eyes, and spirit.” Until the 19thcentury, the intricate art of cutting fruits and vegetables into beautiful birds, swans, and flowers remained predominately in royal households. Later on, it was also applied in Loy Krathong festival floats, and today, you frequently see elaborate decorations at hotel buffets, weddings, and as offerings in Buddhist temples. Carving fruits and vegetables has become part of the national culture.
The result of the carvings is impressive; however, yielding one supple knife artfully to produce these fruit and vegetable sculptures is as remarkable. It takes perseverance, neatness, precision, and a love for details. And probably a steady hand and a pinch of creativity are other attributes of successful fruit carvers.
Beyond the techniques that can be learned in various workshops around Bangkok (and other parts of the country), as well as an optional subject in Thai schools, the art of “kae sa lak ponlamai” (fruit carving) may be an alternative meditation technique and serve a deeper purpose than pleasing the eye of the beholder. Carvers intensely concentrate, imagine their designs, and demonstrate patience until the final touches or cuts are applied to the delicate fruits.
Fruits and vegetables we often see carved are watermelons, apples, cantaloupes, papaya, beetroots, carrots, and cucumbers. However, the teachers advertise that tomatoes can be shaped into delicate roses within 15 minutes. Advanced students will learn to handle strawberries, taro, or turnips, which are more challenging. The textures of the rinds, peels, and flesh demand an in-depth study of the subject.
Sculptors may contemplate the emergence of flower petals from cucumbers or swans from apples while selecting the best fresh produce to help them bring their ideas to life that will ultimately only last a few days.
One may ask, “Why bother?” Food decorations are for pleasing the eye, not the mouth, and should not be eaten. Due to their short shelf life, they will be discarded and could be labeled food waste. One concept in meditation practices, though, is letting go.
Many enjoy the beauty of the creations (now also Instagrammed) while it lasts, but once finalized, it is released from the creator and frees up their mind for new, even more challenging projects.
A practical aspect for the artists is that they do not have to worry that they produce, produce, and produce and fill their storage spaces in case the art pieces don’t sell. Although well cared for, fruit and vegetables will last a few days and vanish from the physical world. They remain a memory and a step in the creator’s carving journey.
#thailand #bangkok #sukhothai #foodcarving #fruitcarving #vegetablecarving #meditation #thaiculture #tabledecoration #decoration #thaicraft #thaiart
Image source: own / Pixabay
chao phraya princess 