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For the longest time Chefs have striven to make their food more appealing to the eyes. For if it looks good it tastes good. Yes, appearances are deceptive but did you know that they set a mood for appreciating what comes next?

We eat our food with all our senses without even realizing it. When you see something looking good you instantly want to sample it. Its like me drooling over all your blog pics! When you bake a cake and the aroma spreads all over, it makes your neighbors mouth water. Similarly, when you pick up a piece of cake or pie and it breaks before it reaches your mouth you decide its not that great. A more common example will be the roti or chappati. Have you noticed that when you cant break it with 2 fingers and labor over a stretchy piece you will most probably think its tasteless even before eating? When you buy a sizzler, you want to hear that sizzle else its not good, right? Here I have enumerated the use of your senses : eyes, nose, ear and touch that you have used to taste your food and we always feel its our tongue that doing all the job. Yes, finally the tongue decides, no doubt but what about the hidden senses?

Here is an event to make us look at our food in a different way. So pick up your carving tools and sculpt out your fruits & veggies. Some of the commonly used tools are shown in the picture. They are available in the market as a part of a ‘Garnish Kit’. Once you start using the kit its very addictive. You might not have time to make a dish but you will definitely squeeze out some time to dress it up!

1 : Pastry Bag
Different tips can be used to produce different shapes from mashed fruits/vegetables. Round tip for smooth shapes, star-shaped tips for ridged shapes and a flat tip for wide strips.

2 : Peeler
Is usually used to peel outer skin of vegetables but can also be used to create decorative strips to make bows and curls.

3 : Peel Stripper
Is used to pull off strips of peel or flesh. It allows you to make one long groove at a time. Lemon / Orange rind spirals used in cocktails are usually made using this tool.

4 : Zester
Tool used for removing the zest from lemons and other citrus fruits. You can also use it for making wavy stripes on the outer surface of vegetables.

5 : Melon Baller
To scoop out large or half spheres from melons,cucumbers, and carrots. Also used to scoop out seeds from tomatoes, kiwis, etc;

6 : Round Cutters
With smooth or ridged edges to cut out perfect circles of fruit or vegetable slices.

These are the commonly available tools however you dont need to have all of the above to create a great sculpture. Even a knife and peeler can work wonders!

Regulations :
1) This event focuses on making the food look creative. You can create it as a part of a recipe or just a stand alone sculpture.
2) Not necessary that the final result should look like a person, animal or object. It can just be anything that looks beautiful and creative.
3) Please feel free to use the ‘Melon Basket’ logo above.
4) Please link your post back to the event announcement
5) Mail in your entries by July 31st, 2008 to romaspace(at)gmail(dot)com with subject line ‘Vegetable Carving’
Non-Bloggers please dont hesitate to participate. Mail me your entries and I will post it on your behalf.

Entry Details required :

  • Your Name
  • Blog Name
  • Name of Entry
  • URL of post
  • Picture of width 250 pixels

The round-up will be posted within a week after the deadline. Happy Carving!

For Ideas :
Funny Vegetable Carvings

Vegetable Carving Ideas

Vegetable Carving Event Round – up