After publishing recent posts showing watermelon portraits, now I’ll show you some terrific pizza portraits.  The variety of creative food art never ceases to amaze me. Before yesterday, I’d never seen this kind of interesting food art before.

The maker of these remarkable pizza portraits is Domenico Crolla who is the owner of Bella Napoli Pizzeria in Glasgow in the UK. His skill at making pizza portraits caught the attention of Pizza magazine who featured Domenico on their cover.

I don’t know how Domenica constructs this pizza portraits but here are photos of a bunch of them for your viewing enjoyment. I’m sure you’ll recognize who is in many of these portraits made of cheese and tomato sauce. continue reading…

Did you know that in the early days of America’s independence, Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird instead of the bald eagle? Even though the bald eagle was chosen, the Turkey which is native to North America has become an American symbol of Thanksgiving.

How did the turkey get its name?

I found several explanations.

Theory 1 – The Native Americans called the turkey “firkee”. If that is true, I wonder which tribe? (It sounds a lot like the vegetarian substitute for turkey that is made of soy. It’s called tofurkey.)

Theory 2- When Columbus reached America, he thought he landed in India so he dubbed the Native Americans, Indians. He believed the the bird that he saw which we now know as the American Turkey was a type of peacock. In the Indian language, Tamil, ‘peacock’ is ‘tuka’. continue reading…

Japanese food is as much about art as it is about taste

Great for school lunches, casual picnics or work place breaks, Bento boxes are a fun and creative form of Japanese food art.

In Japan, the presentation and artistic nature of a meal is just as important as the taste. This doesn’t just apply to fancy five star restaurants – home chefs, including clever parents and caregivers, pride themselves in creating awe-inspiring food art for their childrens’ school lunch boxes, or bento boxes.

A bento box in Japan is a single portion meal, which is commonly eaten at lunch or for any meal away from home. It usually contains a balanced list of ingredients including rice, meat and vegetables. Not only do homemakers spend time making the food healthy and delicious, they also put considerable effort into making the food presentation spectacular! A common belief is that when food looks and tastes good, it will enhance the mood of the person eating it and improve their performance continue reading…

Watermelon skiing during Australia's Melon Festival

August 3rd is National Watermelon Day here in the United Sates, and in keeping with this theme, I wanted share with you some really wild, whimsical and wacky watermelon ideas.

I’m not just talking about using watermelon in an innovative recipe, I’m talking everything from watermelon themed automobiles and eyelashes to watermelon sports. Yep, these watermelon inspired inventions are certainly cute and eccentric and some are a bit wacky. Or maybe these watermelon ideas are just plain brilliant…you decide!

Take a look at some of these out-of-the-box watermelon ideas and inventions! continue reading…

A banana dress by photographer Sung Yeonju

Earlier this week, I wrote a post about Italian photographer Fulvio Bonavia’s food fashion pictures. He has come up with really interesting and creative ways to pair food with clothing and accessories to make delicious designer photos. Well, this trend setting food art concept has been given a unique twist by another photographer from South Korea named Sung Yeonju.

Ms. Yeonju’s take on food fashion is in the form of edible dresses. Her designs look so chic that it’s hard to believe that they are made from fruits and vegetables, bubblegum and even chicken! Check out Sung Yeonju’s food clothing photos from her project called “Wearable Foods”. continue reading…

Food Fashion by photographer Fulvio Bonavia

Today I’d like to showcase some witty food art pictures by award-winning photographer, Fulvio Bonavia from Milan, Italy. Food has become an increasingly popular medium for photographers, as it allows them to create art that is appealing to a number of senses, including our taste buds!

Fulvio Bonavia’s unique take on food art pictures involves combining food and fashion. According to Mr. Bonavia, this concept is intriguing because food and fashion are both “objects of desire”:

People with means tend to indulge themselves with what they choose to wear and what they eat….food photography is considered “successful” when it makes you want to eat what you see. But what my aim was is to make something “cheap” , something like broccoli that you can find at any old supermarket, into something chic and elegant”.

And yes, Mr. Bonavia uses real food for his food art pictures so he has to work fast! Take a look at the imaginative and fashionable food art pictures by photographer Fulvio Bonavia. continue reading…

Today, I want to give you an early look at some of the food art competitions and events coming up later this year. Food carving competitions are a great way to showcase the beautiful art of vegetable and fruit carving, and are an opportunity for like minded culinary enthusiasts to share and learn from each other.

Besides fruit carving, food art competitions and events can include cooking, ice carving, cake decorating and chocolate carving. Oh, and let’s not forget about a watermelon eating contest and watermelon face painting. Find out more about these fun and wacky fruit activities and how they are actually supporting a great cause! continue reading…

Thailand flag made with red chili, shredded coconut and blue swimmer crab

I came across an original and clever food art idea that was showcased at the Sydney International Food Festival in Australia. To celebrate and promote the city of Sydney as a global dining destination, an advertising agency in Australia called WHYBIN\TBWA came up with the eye catching food art concept of arranging the traditional foods of different countries into national flags.

Feast your eyes on these clever food art flags from the Sydney Food Festival – a feast for the eyes, the taste continue reading…

Gianna Goldy's Underwater Garden Food Art made from carved vegetables

Food Art is becoming an increasingly popular because of popular television cooking shows and because food naturally appeals to both our eyes and our taste buds! Well, today I want to share with you a lovely ocean food art creation by a student, Gianna Goldy. Gianna’s “under the sea” theme, with all of its fresh vegetables, makes me think of an underwater garden.

I was delighted to receive her wonderful photos and the following message in my e-mail:

 Nita, here are some pictures of an “Under The Sea” food carving I did for a project in my Culinary Arts class. This is the first time I ever attempted food carving. My inspiration came from what I saw while diving at the Virgin Islands. I was quite pleased at my attempt at food carving which led me to research food carving on the internet, which lead me to your website. I have ordered 14 of you’re DVD’s and several knife and carving utensils. Thank you for your teachings! I am learning a lot. Gianna Goldy”  continue reading…

Recently, I stumbled upon an amazing food art that has been practiced in China for centuries. It’s a form of fruit carving you could say, but it involves carving the pit of fruits. I’ve never heard of it before but was amazed at how beautiful and intricate it is.

China’s Incredible Miniature Food Art

This miniature folk food art is called “Heidao” in Chinese and refers to both fruit pit and walnut carving. Remember as you look at these that the photos that most of them are larger than life size. These are small fruit pits!

continue reading…

Photographer Carl Kleiner makes Fun Food Art using artichoke, garlic and tomato

Happy April Fools Day.  Here is some silly and fun food art that might put a smile on your face! I was inspired to do this when I received an e-mail from Bob Moroch, which gave me a chuckle.

By the way, if you are not familiar with April Fools Day, it is celebrated on the 1^st of every April in Canada, New Zealand, the UK and Australia, and a few other countries. It is a day when people play all kinds of jokes and pranks on each other – all in good fun, of course! Since I can’t play a prank on you, I thought I’d make you laugh with fun food art photos instead!

Anyway, Bob Moroch’s e-mail made me think of April Fools Day. Here is Bob’s message telling me how he liked my free lesson on how to make a radish bouquet: continue reading…

Today, I’d like to share a clever vegetable art idea created by one of my readers, Cindy Halferty. This will be especially interesting if you have children in your life.

Cindy Halferty’s charming Vegetable Garden House

You may have built and decorated a Gingerbread House with your kids during Christmas laced with cookies, icing sugar and candy. Well, here’s a healthy twist to this old holiday favorite: We’ll call it  a Vegetable Garden House.

Isn’t is quaint and inviting? and completely edible, too. Look at all the vibrant colors of this edible Garden House, lent from the deep red tomato, pink watermelon, bright green broccoli and cucumber and purple radish, just to name a few. There are so many details in this vegetable art creation by Cindy and I invite you to take a closer look! continue reading…

This sassy Senorita, carved from eggplant, looks like she's ready to go out on the town

I recently learned about a fascinating Food Trade Show that takes place in Brazil, featuring amazing food sculpture. Have you ever heard of Fair Equipotel? I hadn’t either until Chef Charlie from Carving Studio Brazil sent me photos of beautiful food art from this event.

Fair Equipotel in Brazil is held every year and is considered the largest and best Food Trade Show in Latin America. In 2011, the event was held in Sao Paulo and included a Food Sculpture Workshop (with some friendly competition) lead by Chef Charlie.

Realistic Food Sculptures at Food Trade Show in Brazil

Look at the facial expression on these pumpkin food sculptures continue reading…

Here is another amazing food art that I stumbled across today. It is Chinese Sugar Painting. I’ had never heard of it before but look how beautiful this is.

Roadside Treat Food Art

Chinese Sugar painting sold as a roadside treat

I’ll bet you have to work quickly to have the sugar at just the right temperature.

I find it interesting how an art that requires such skill is sold as a simple roadside treat. continue reading…

Have you ever seen the amazing food landscapes created and photographed by British photographer, Carl Warner?

Winter village made of cookies and confections - see larger image of same further in this article.

This amazing food artist was brought to my attention this week by one of my customer/students, M. Choquette.

British Photographer Creates Food Landscapes
that are a Feast for the Eyes.

Carl Warner, 45, first draws his ideas, then buys the produce and spends days creating food landscapes using a whole bunch of fresh ingredients…plus some pins and superglue.

His latest book, Food Landscapes, features many food art seascapes as well as scenes from around the world such as a wild west wagon scene complete with avocado cowboys. Take a look at Carl’s fantastic photos. continue reading…

Take a look at this interesting Gourd Art!

Gourd Art by Larry McClelland

Gourd art is not is not exactly what you think of as vegetable and fruit carving but, it is a beautiful art that utilizes dried, hardened ornamental gourds. It’s a different variety of food art.

Here are some photos with some fine examples of gourd crafting from various artists. continue reading…

Coffee Art by Chef Said

Here is some coffee art just for fun. This is not fruit and vegetable carving but it is related to beautiful food presentation. This coffee art video was made by Chef Said.

There are so many fun and creative ways to present all kinds of food. I just stumbled across this coffee art  and thought that your might enjoy seeing it. If you master this, you’ll have lots of fun presenting very special espresso coffee drinks that will delight and surprise your guests. It certainly adds that special touch to a cup of cappuccino or a cafe latte. continue reading…