Chinese Carving

Knowing the history of your craft is of the utmost importance for any artist. Artists need to know where their art has come from, how it has developed and changed over time as well as its current state in regards to trends and techniques. I love carving fruit and vegetables more than I enjoy cooking itself. There is a sense of artistry and serenity that I find when carving which I simply don't feel when I am cooking a regular dish. The above video is a rare example of the style of original Chinese carvings. The vast majority or carving seen on sites such as http://www.youtube.com/ and www.google.com/images are based more on Thai techniques as well as variations of Thai carving adapted by today's artists. The Chinese however have a slightly different style which is seldomly seen in the US as well as online. The above video shows a level of craftmanship which in my opinion extends far beyond many Thai techniques. One of the main features which makes this particular piece Chinese is how the individual pieces almost interweave and make a somewhat abstract design. In many Thai carvings there is a central vocal point, usually a flower or two and the entire piece is comprised of supporting pieces to that main focal point. The following picture is an example of such Thai carving.



In this video you can see how there is a central focal point, in this case the flower. On the sides there are multiple petals, as well as some leaves all carved for the most part, flat into the melon.

Today the majority of carvings seen are this Thai style. The reason? Well, in my opinion as a carver, it is because the Thai style is done very quickly in comparison the the Chinese style, and in our fast pased food industry today...time is money so therefore speed = money. Will there be a revitalization of such Chinese style? Or will it be lost to time efficiency seen in Thai style? Only time will really tell.

Inspirations

There are very few times while cruising through the web that I find a site which I feel speaks to me. This website http://foodstylin.com/index.asp was one I have been inspired by for some time and it is made by a young chef named David Leathers. While trying to figure out what I was going to do with my culinary career once I get out of school, I decided it might be a good idea to have my own website for people to contact me directly and perhaps make some money from it. David's website spoke to me because it is so similar to my own idea for myself. David specializes in fruit carving and attended culinary school himself. On his site he sells how-to books, his own line of knives as well as merchandise such as T-shirts with funny slogans for people to purchase. When it comes to looking for direction and advice in this particular sect of culinary arts the true professionals are far and few between. Moreover, finding a carving chef in the US who isn't asian is quite a rareity. The problem with the majority of these carvers is that they don't speak very good english and they do not even have websites or a way to contact them. I have taken the step of contacting David in hopes that perhaps in my own career path he might be able to lend some advice which would set me in the right direction. Currently I have been inspired by his site to come up with my own T-shirt line I could sell on my website which is in the making. I have been thinking for a while now about making my own how-to videos which David also does, however in my idea I want them to be offered online as well as DVD format so people can easily get the videos with no wait time. Another inspiration from the site is to figure out how to get my work more well-known. Hopefully with a little help from David there will be one more professional carving chef providing easy to understand information to the public.

ICE CREAM!

Just recently i started making ice cream and wow have I been missing out on how amazing it is to make your own from scratch and its so easy! I started out making my favorite flavor, which was vanilla bean and moved on to more common flavors such as chocolate. Now that my understanding of ice cream is expanding I am beginning to see that I can add in almost anything and turn it into ice cream, i could even make a savory style one! So, while looking for some recipes for class I came across the idea for avocado ice cream found here http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/coconut-avocado-ice-cream/Detail.aspx. Then i cam across recipes for green tea ice cream, which brought my mind to start thinking of some more savory ice cream which would kind of combine the methods od tea ice cream with those of the avocado style. What if i could do a spinach and onion ice cream which cuts back on the sweetness and allows the flavors of the spinach and onion to come out. After finding such crazy recipes I realized the world of ice cream is limitless and it's no wonder so many people have entered this sect of the culinary world! It sure inspired me!

The breakfast life...

Every once in a while, while I am at work cooking breakfast (which is my current job) I think to myself, how can I change the breakfast game? It is often the same at virtually any place you go and rarely does something jump out to me that makes me say "WOW! NOW THAT'S DIFFERENT!" So, while doing a homework assignment i stumbled upon this recipe, which has inspired me to add something similar to my breakfast menu. This is the croissant french toast with fresh berries by Charlie Palmer. It is basically a sweet flaky croissant dipped and cooked just like french toast, but wih the addition of fresh berries tossed in sugar and berry puree inside the two layers. I have never thought of such a breakfast item! I use croissants every day and I make french toast, but for some reason I never thought of marrying the two dishes into something truly different than the traditional french toast. This dish is not only beautiful as can be seen in the picture, but it is also absolutly delicious to boot!

Pancakes

After reading a post found here http://boingboing.net/2010/05/07/eating-ihops-cheesec.html It made me start to think about my own restaurant and some of our recipes. The link takes you to a review of the cheesecake stuffed pancakes at IHOP. The review basically said that the pancakes were too much with their filling, and some of the response comments were along the lines of pancakes being sweet enough as they are, or that perhaps breakfast dishes such as these stuffed pancakes must be meant for kids. This made me think, people want something different in their breakfast items, something they're not used to seeing. Pancakes after all get boring after a few years. So what do people do? They go to places like IHOP and try things such as this and get disappointed. But what if a place offered something different that adults would enjoy as well as kids? This made me begin to think of my own stuffed pancake recipe. Something that would not be so overly sweet, or simply piped out like sourcream at taco bell as the article suggests the cheesecake is done at IHOP. Most recipes for stuffed pancakes to be made like normal and simply have something squezzed inbetween 2 pancakes. What fun is that? Anyone can put sweet things between layers. I decided to make a recipe in which the sweet stuffing would be put directly in the batter when the pancake is made so the each pancake essentially has its own sweet creamy stuffing. My recipe? Well I can not give away the exact ingredients as it will be a signature pancake dish at my restaurant Cafe du Marche but it is a house pancake batter poured onto the griddle with the creamy chocolate stuffing placed right on top and when the pancake is flipped it heats and melts the stuffing throughout the pancake bottom and creates a truly unique breakfast dish which, in my opinion doesn't even need syrup. The flavor of the pancake is recognizable and the flavor of the filling is somewhat remeniscent of marshmellow smores with the hersheys chocolate all inside of a pancake, not just slapped on top. The article really inspired me to create something I have never seen before and prehaps could change the landscape of pancakes in my area. It's time for a pancake that is actually stuffed with a filling people will like, not just topped with tubbed cheesecake and an overly sweet fruit sauce.