Food as a work of art

In Thailand, carving food is considered one of that country’s oldest art forms. It actually goes back to the 1300s, during the annual festival. In the year 1364, the king’s consort was trying to figure out a way to impress the king. She came up with the idea of carving the fruits and vegetables in the shape of flowers. The goal of this is to ensure that both the king and Phra Mae Khongkha, the goddess of waters, rivers, streams and canals were impressed with the beauty of the carvings. I don’t know if the king or the goddess were impressed with food carvings, but I know that I was when I saw how intricate and detailed the designs were.

Recently, I visited the Buddhist monastery in the town of Grand Island, New York. It’s called Wat Prodketchettharam of America, and it just recently celebrated its fifth anniversary at its present location. A group of visitors were there, as well. They were a group of monks, who had just completed a walk for world peace that took them from Key West, Florida, to Niagara Falls, New York. The celebration included a great variety of Thai food, as well as the beautiful melon carving. Below is a picture of the melon carver. She lives in New York City, and she spends a great deal of time honing her skills at creating this fruit that looks too beautiful to eat.

I have never seen anything like that. It is utterly gorgeous to the point that you don’t want to damage it by eating even a small portion of it, but it’s food. So it’s not going to last forever. I guess the idea is to take a picture of this beautiful, but perishable, gift. And enjoy eating your lovely food. That’s what it’s there for, to nourish you, as well as to give you a visual delight.