Thai cuisine involves the balancing of contrasting flavors, spicy and subtle, sweet and sharp. It is also concerned with aesthetic value, for the Thais believe that food should please the eye as well as the palate.

One particularly delightful aspect of Thai cuisine is the art of carving fruit and vegetables. There is a long tradition of fruit and vegetable carving in Thailand, especially in the preparation of meals for the royal family. This traditional craft is still popular.

In the carver's skilled hands, and with a small and very sharp pointed knife, an ordinary papaya or pumpkin is turned into a bouquet of flowers, and a radish becomes a tiny rabbit or a carrot a rare orchid. Almost any kind of fruit or vegetable can be used as long as the carver understands the texture of each and uses its natural color to imitate the chosen subject. Soft produce such as mango, tomatoes, and papaya can be shaped into flowers, buds, leaves, or any form that does not require too much detail; otherwise, they would become mushy and loose their juice rapidly.

Not all the carvings are as small as a flower. A large round watermelon becomes a richly decorated and lidded bowl to be used as a container for fruit salad. The green outer skin is cut away to make a pattern of flowers or even characters in Thai literature.

In addition to molding the fruit or vegetable into a recognizable form, Thai carvers also use the skin in some artistic manner. Skins from apples and oranges, for example, are useful for decorating platters by curling the skins into looping frames for portions of food.

The art of fruit carving has gained greatly in popularity over recent years. Nowadays most five-star hotels and a number of cooking schools hold Thai cooking classes that offer courses that are centered around the carving of fruit into decorative garnishes.

Why should someone bother to transform a pumpkin into a magic basket or a carrot into a butterfly? The answer is the Thai appreciation of beauty and craftsmanship, whatever the medium.

Source: The Government Public Relations Department