Carving-means “carving on fruits and vegetables”. This is a unique art form. Experienced craftsmen can create a masterpiece (sculpture or painting) from an ordinary pumpkin. Carving: learning to make at home tools.
There are several ways to use carving in everyday life.
Vases for fresh flowers. Carving: learning to make at home tools.
A curious way of interior decoration: from fruits, vegetables, large berries (such as watermelon, melon, etc.), a core is cut out, in place of which a glass or can of water is inserted. Thus, this composition looks like a vase of fresh fruit, and inside it is hidden a container for a bouquet of flowers. Candlesticks made of apples and oranges will fill the house with a magical aroma and original decor: Masters offer to implement crafts from pumpkins in different ways – cut pumpkins, paint, make decoupage, perform inscriptions, cover pumpkins with sequins and rhinestones. Each fashionable type of pumpkin decor deserves special attention.
Cooking carving
In the culinary arts, carving began to be called artistic cutting of vegetables and fruits. Obviously, you have already realized that mostly carving is used for table setting and original serving of dishes — there is even such a thing as culinary carving. Of course, this is quite logical, because jewelry is created from food, and their place is in the kitchen, at a festive table, at a banquet or birthday party.
The above examples of cutting out vegetables and fruits are quite enough to beautifully serve the most ordinary dish, the main thing is to try to do it yourself.
For cutting, it is better to choose fruits and vegetables with a flat and smooth surface, because they are easier to work with. The minimum amount of pulp and seeds will also facilitate the cutting process. Fruit is better to choose the most solid or even unripe. Do not use overripe fruit, otherwise the finished product will not hold its shape well. Citrus fruits with a thick skin are preferable.
Cucumbers and carrots are more suitable straight, tomatoes-plum-shaped, radishes and beets-spherical. Choose the most colorful vegetables and fruits to make the patterns on the skin look more effective against the contrasting background of the pulp.
For a festive table, you can make a basket with fruit from a watermelon — an incredibly beautiful dish will cause everyone’s delight. To do this, divide the watermelon into two parts with a horizontal line, lightly drawing it with the tip of a knife. On the top of the intended watermelon basket, draw the contours of the future handle using a template made of thick paper.
Use a sharp knife to cut out the handle, remove the top quarters of the watermelon from both sides to a horizontal line, and scoop out all the pulp from the “basket” with a spoon, leaving about 0,79in ( 2 cm) of the pulp on the handle. Cut openwork patterns on the handle and make a spectacular side. Fill the basket with fruit and serve!
For beginners in carving, you can try to make a tangerine flower, and then create more complex compositions of vegetables and fruits. For the flower, divide the tangerine with a knife into six parts, drawing lines with the tip of the knife, and then cut the skin along the lines, without touching the fruit pulp. Bend the tangerine petals, but do not separate them from the base and cut small holes in each petal with a knife. You will get six tiny petals, from which you will have to lay out a flower and decorate the top of the tangerine with it. Fasten the petals with a toothpick, putting a grape on it, which will become the core of an unusual orange flower.
Practice carving regularly it will turn you into a master, just give yourself time. Good tools, high-quality fruit, useful tips from experienced cooks — and after a while you will learn how to carve real works of art for the joy of your loved ones!
The Secrets Of Carving. Carving: learning to make at home tools.
Dense vegetables, such as potatoes, radishes, radishes, and ginger are better to get out of the refrigerator first – they will be more plastic when they are warm.
Fruits that are prone to darkening (apple, pear, quince), pre-sprinkle with a solution of vinegar or soaked in lemon juice.
The knife can also be soaked in lemon when cutting. To prevent the carrot from breaking when working, it is soaked in salt water for 1-2 hours. Beets should be soaked in cold water before working.
Watermelons should be allowed to warm up at room temperature, because cold watermelons can crack during cutting. Cucumbers and tomatoes should be chosen the most dense, with a minimum amount of juice. Preparations of vegetables and fruits can be stored in cold water for several days. To prevent them from darkening, they are sprinkled with lemon juice and diluted gelatin.
Watery fruits are not soaked – when stored, they are only periodically sprayed with water. Carving on cooked vegetables is more difficult than on raw ones. Finished works can be steamed or deep-fried. Done things can be stored in the refrigerator for a day (in closed containers).
Tools for carving
You can learn carving at home, and you do not need to be a professional artist — just have a good set of tools for carving and know some of the subtleties of this science.
Decorative patterns on vegetables and fruits are cut with special tools. The main tool of the master is a Thai knife.
There are also:
- carving knives (sharp, V-shaped, square, round, wide and narrow)
- knife noisette (another name — knife-recess) round and oval
- knife for fluting (drawing grooves-flutes)
- engraving knife
- and others.
Carving is not about longevity, it’s about beauty, originality and self-expression. Try it yourself! Carving: learning to make at home tools.