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Garde Manger - Food and Art Sculpture
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Food art, either edible or inedible, can help add visual appeal to a buffet, platter, plate, or other presentation. Ranging from a carved vegetable to elaborate works of art which have been carefully planned out and constructed, this food sculpture has been in practice since at least Medieval times, when chefs created decorated foods such as sotelties (sculptures made from edible ingredients but not always intended to be eaten or even safe to eat) and warners (disguised foods), with edible and non-edible parts, to create illusions. Ice carvings are also used to keep seafood, caviar, and other foods very cold, but it is important to make sure the ice can drain properly.
A number of artists who work with food and art compete in the annual AGROart Festival at Auburn, CA's Council of Placer County, working to compose a sculpture from fresh produce, dried fruits and vegetables, leaves, vines, twigs, peels, or seeds. Lesley College's Art Institute of Boston also holds an Edible Art fundraiser each spring, where the finest chefs from the area create culinary masterpieces commemorating their favorite artist or artwork. Examples of past work include:
- Dali's Persistence of Memory rendered in chocolate mousse
- Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights transformed into colorful leaf biscuits
- A six-foot Botero sculpture fashioned out of Proscuitto and porcini pesto
- Vermeer's painting The Concert, in polenta and goat cheese
- Edvard Munch's The Scream created in blood sausage, spicy blood orange, scotch bonnet and cilantro salsa, served with clouds of mashed potatoes
References:
Garde Manger: The Art & Craft of the Cold Kitchen; CIA 2000l; Pages 312 - 313
ABOUT.COM: "Appetizing Art: Food Art that Sizzles,"
http://arttech.about.com/library/weekly/aa111999.htm
RUSSIANFOODS.COM: "Food Art at Russian Foods"
http://www.russianfoods.com/russian-cooking/chapter00009/default.asp
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