Premise
You will learn an idea to carve a lollipop-shape from a carrot. Also, insert it into celery stalks and a baby cucumber to make the food decoration. The details include
1. Create a lollipop-shape carrot.
2. Carrot shrub decoration.
3.Carrot cactus flower decoration.
YOU WILL NEED
- A chef knife
- A curved blade or straight blade paring knife
- A chopping board
- A carrot
- A couple of celery stalks
- A baby cucumber
- Some thyme
Practice
In this article, we will make a lollipop-shaped carrot first. As it will be used on these two sections of food garnish. Let’s start to carve it.
1. Create a lollipop-shaped Carrot
1-1 Design a lollipop-shape on a piece of paper
Take a carrot and trim the top stem off. After that, cut a section about 3 to 3.5 cm thick. Draw the outline of the carrot section on a piece of paper.
Draw a lollipop-shape in the outline that you have drawn from the carrot section. Then, try to use as much space as you can in the carrot outline to create a lollipop-shape.
1-2 Carving a shaped carrot
Use scissors to cut the piece of paper. After that, place it on the carrot section top and use the point of a paring knife to shallow carve the outline of the lollipop-shape on the carrot section.
Use a point and edge finish bladed chef knife to cut the outside of the lollipop-shape off.
Keep using the chef knife to trim the lollipop shape with as smooth an arc as you can.
Check the lollipop shape from both section sides of the carrot. Make sure they have a correct shape like your design. Also from the side view of the carrot, the shape should be even. See How to use a paring knife to tell you more ways to use it.
Finally, if you are happy with the entire lollipop-shape. Use the chef knife to cut three sections of them with about 1 cm thick each.
1-3 Make more detail on the shaped carrot
1-3-1 Carving details of the stick on the lollipop-shape
Let us start making some round edges on the stick part of the lollipop-shape. Use a paring knife to carve one edge of rectangle off from the side view. You should keep the circle shape as round as it can be. Keep trimming the other three corners in the same way.
Then, trim the stick part of the lollipop as a round shape from the side view. Until the stick has a smooth surface like a cylinder.
1-3-2 Carving details on the lollipop-shape
Once you are happy with the stick part of lollipop-shape. Let’s start trimming the circle of lollipop-shape. Use the edge finish of a paring knife to trim a circle from the section side of the lollipop-shape and create a round edge.
After that, process the other circle side of the lollipop-shape in the same way. Then, you will get both smooth round edges of the lollipop-shape.
You might need to trim the edges a couple of times to have a smooth lollipop-shape. It will take you time to make the details look good, you will improve your food carving skills.
2. Carrot shrub decoration
2-1 Create celery shrub
Most of the time, as we just eat the stem section from celery, we remove the top section of celery leaves. Therefore, we waste lots of celery in this way. If we are able to create an idea with food art, it will be a good use of it. Let’s see how can we do it.
Trim the very top of the leaves off only, but keep branch sections.
After that, wash these branches thoroughly. Especially the corners of the branches, they might have dirt hiding inside. It’s not that good to present food garnish with dirty vegetables.
2-2 Inserting carrot lollipop-shape
From section one, we have created three lollipop-shaped carrots. You are able to put it on the top of the celery branches. Try to stick the carrot into the end of the celery branch end. If necessary, we can trim the carrot shape to match.
There is an alternative, you are able to carve a groove on the top of a celery branch. Let the carrot lollipop-shape to be held in there.
Bring out your artistic talent on a plate with this idea. You might be able to prepare a variety of different heights of the celery branches along with a variety of carrot lollipop-shapes on your plate.
2-3 Garnish with some thyme
In order to give a more interesting rhythm for the visual, you are able to add some thyme on the top of celery branches. As the thyme is able to connect all three (currently I am using three) celery branches together, it will bring this food art to be at a better level of beauty.
Insert both ends of the thyme into the top of the celery branches, and let it hold well between the celery branches.
3. Carrot cactus flower decoration
Firstly, cut a baby cucumber 2/3 of its length, remove only one end. Therefore, you should have an eight cm heigh cucumber. Secondly, leave a 2 cm distance from the top end and use the point of a paring knife to carve a groove with 0.5 to 0.7 cm diameter.
The groove that you have carved, doesn’t need to be too deep. As long as it is able to fit in the stick part of the lollipop-shape that you created. After that, insert the lollipop-shape into the baby cucumber.
Process the same way to carve a hole in the top end of the baby cucumber, and insert another lollipop-shape into it.
This is the current food art that you should have made. There are two lollipop-shapes inserted in the baby cucumber.
If you would like to insert more shaped carrot, please make more. Finally, we can trim the end of the baby cucumber off. It depends on how you would like to see it standing on a plate.
I have cut a 25 degrees bevel off from the bottom of the cactus and let it stand with an angle. If you like to keep it straight, you don’t need to trim it. Have some fun with cutting different angles. As long as the gravity of the baby cucumber lets it stand up on your plate.
Payoff
According to the ideas that you have learned from this article, insert the lollipop-shape into the celery stalk and the baby cucumber. Actually, you are able to insert it to any vegetable with enough thickness. For example, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin and so on … As such, please carve them the same way that you have done with a carrot. Another idea, you are able to carve the lollipop shape on a pumpkin and insert it in a carrot. Try any way you think possible, and have some fun with food art.