Fruit & Vegetable Carving

The purpose of fruit and vegetable carving is to make food more attractive, more appetizing, and also easier to eat. The accomplished homemaker welcomes her guests with fruit carefully pared, seeded, and perhaps cut into bite-size slices depending on the type. Vegetables are first delicately carved, then cooked, and finally arranged attractively to decorate the dish which they are part of. Needless to say, guests are greatly pleased to be honored with such a gracious welcome, displaying as it does the good feelings and willing hospitality of the maker.

Decorating fresh, well-formed, and colorful fruits and vegetables through artistic carving is by no means difficult; all it takes is concentration. Starting out, there is no need for special carving knives; one sharp-pointed knife is enough to carve fruits and vegetables beautifully. The knife, however, must be sharp at all times, and so you should always have a small whetstone nearby.

Before carving

1. Before carving, fruits and vegetables must be washed and cleaned thoroughly.

2. Use knives with stainless steel or bronze blades. Knives with ordinary steel blades will cause discoloration of fruits and vegetables.

3. Do not carve excessively so as to avoid waste and loss of nutritional value.

4. The designs carved should be appropriate for decorating a plate of food; thus, floral patterns are suitable, while figures of animals such as rats are not.

5. Vegetables to be dipped into sauces should be cut to appropriate sizes.

6. Vegetables chosen for carving should be appropriate to the dish in which they are to be used, and they should be vegetables which are resistant to wilting, such as carrots and Chinese radishes.

7. Refrigerate until serving time, when you can sit back and enjoy the compliments.