Food sculpt, a curiosity in Chinese cuisine, is an artistic form of decorating food mainly using a cutter with subsidiary methods of woodcarving, inscriptions, paper-cut, sculpture and ivory carving. Through cutting, chopping, digging and hollowing, cooks can create beautiful designs containing high aesthetic value as exquisite crafts.

Food sculpt contains widespread content, involving painting, sculpture, modeling and decorating. The cutters used are technological and special and can make an infinite variety of sculpts to decorate dishes and banquets. The food sculpts always show the skill and artistry of the cook.

It’s hard to say where food sculpts originated, but it is said it evolved out of offerings. It is recorded food sculpts became burgeoning and fashionable in the Song Dynasty (960AD-1279AD).

The development of food sculpt

The theme of early food sculpt was mainly about flowers, which then enlarged to the area of portraits, fish, birds, worms and flowers like the famous Yangzhou melon sculpt. Chinese food sculpt is an extensive and profound art for its long history.

Today, more and more food sculpt artists are gaining recognition. They decorate the dishes and banquets while changing people’s cognition of food sculpts. People begin to attach importance with the materials and prefer the edible materials. At some pricey banquets, food sculpts show not only the exquisite craftsmanship of Chinese cooking, but also the extensive and profound culture of China that is highly commended.

The Creation process

1. Assign a theme and conception

The conception is what the theme and topic want to express. Before assigning a theme, the chef should know the background of the banquet, as well as the number and information of the guests that are will be the reference of assigning the theme.