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Fruit and vegetable carving

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The art of fruit and vegetable carving (kae-sa-lak in thai) is performed in asian countries such as Korea, Japan and China, but thai culinary carving is arguably unsurpassed for skill and finesse. The best masterpieces can be found in Thailand.

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

Fruit and vegetable carving is a venerable tradition which has been passed down form ancient times. Fruit and vegetable carving is considered one of the ten traditional Thai crafts. It is thus held to be an ancient art and is used in making food offerings for monks, entertaining guests, ordinations, weddings, and royal funerals.

Thailand, the land of smiles, is famed the world over for the beauty and delicacy of its art and culture, which once experienced, make such an unforgettable impression upon visitors that they wish to come back time and time again. One thing that so delights them is the artistry of carved fruits and vegetables, an integral part of the presentation of delectable Thai food.

The art of fruit and vegetable carving was originated in 1364 in Sukhotai when Lady Nang Nopphamat (Thao Sichulalak), who was the chief royal consort, decorated the floating lamp (krathong) with a profusion of flowers and birds, swans, rabbits and many other animals carved from fruits and vegetables. She made this krathong for the royal festival of loy krahtong celebrated on the night of the full moon of november of every year. A krathong is a tiny banana leaf boat shaped like a lotus flower and containing flowers, incense, lighted candles, and a coin. This floating lamp is floated on Thailand rivers for good luck. Nang Nopphamat carved fruits and vegetables in a variety of flowers and animals which were used to decorate the floating lamp, making it look like a huge water lily flower. When the King Phra Ruang saw what she had created, he appreciated this innovation and decreed it would be an art heritage of Thailand. Since that date, the art of vegetable and fruit carving has been performed by the ladies of the Royal Court.

During the first reign of the Bangkok period, His Majesty King Rama I the Great held a fruit and vegetable carving competition at the festival of the twelth lunar month. Squashes were elaborately carved to serve as bowls for presenting sweet young rice to monks, and the trays on which the bowls were placed were splendidly adorned with flowers of many sorts carved from papayas colored with natural dyes.

Fruit and vegetable carving was thus an art of the palace, and it was the palace which became as it were the university for Thai ladies. Girls of good family would be sent to the palace to be trained in the establishments of great ladies.

This art was the preserve of chefs to royalty and the nobility, but can now be found in the buffet displays of some of the best thai hotels . The master carvers have taught their trade to the new generation.

It was in the change in the form of government in 1932 during the Seventh Reign that a school of home economics was first established under Headmaster Yeuan Phanuthat . In 1934, Phraya Sarasatpraphan , the Minister of Education, gathered teachers from all over the country for a one-yeear training course in various arts among which was fruit and vegetable carving, and from that tme onward, the art has spread among people of all classes.

The fruit carvers use a range of tools built for the job : very sharp pointed knives with double edged blades, knives with curved blades, gouges and cookie cutters. They must show patience, eye concentration and steady hands.

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