Why would anyone want be carving flowers from vegetables? Most chefs will tell that you eat with your eyes first, so an unusual and attractive garnish to a sumptuous dish makes the whole dining experience delightful. A garnish always should be edible, so veggies lend themselves easily to carving. Carving flowers from vegetables originated in Thailand, where it has been elevated to an art form.
Originally only the high born Royal classes were exposed to this ancient art form. Today, you can get a book on the internet. Many Culinary students learn about carving flowers from vegetables in culinary school. However, they will never match the elaborate designs of the Thai Royal court of old. The Siamese Royal Court, taught women for many years the art of carving flowers from vegetables among many other practices to make food, music, and clothes works of art.
The best vegetables for carving are cucumbers, onions, melons, pumpkins, tomatoes, radishes, potatoes, and squash. Many of these were used for carving flowers from vegetables, but also for making elaborate birds, dragons, and boats for them to sit in. A lot of fruits were also carved into flowers, and banana leaves were often woven into baskets to hold food in. Talk about containers you can eat. Well you can’t eat banana leaves, but some of the other things they used for containers were edible. Four star hotels in Thailand still practice this art of carving flowers from vegetables. I looked at the pictures from some of the books, and they don’t even look like vegetables, they look like beautiful flowers. There were even some in the shape of a dragon. The presentation doesn’t even look like food. Once a year in Thailand they have a great competition to keep this art alive.
There is a company in my home town called Incredible Edibles, which carve flowers from fruits, and make different bouquets of them. I sent one to my husbands work for his birthday, and he shared it with his coworkers. He thought it was the most unusual gift he had ever received from me. Then of course there is the Blooming Onion, at the Outback steak house. Not as ornate as the carving flowers from vegetables that appear in Thailand, but it sure tastes good. You can’t go wrong with deep fried onions and dip.
How impressive it would be if the dip was served in an onion carved into a flower. I don’t think a chain restaurant like Outback really cares that much about it though.
I have never had a desire to be carving flowers from vegetables, but from what I have seen, you need very sharp, knives. There are actually sets that are sold for this very art. There were numerous books, and videos to show you how to do this for your family. I imagine it would be very impressive to show off your knife skills in this manner. It could be a very creative outlet, and since you eat what you make, you have a never ending opportunity to be carving flowers from vegetables.