Thai fruit carvings ‘amaze’ crowds
A centuries-old Thai art-form traditionally taught to women in the royal palace wowed the crowds at Race Unity Day in Nelson.
Thirada Suprom, who lives in Motueka, created a display of traditional fruit carvings for the Thai Community’s Race Unity Day display at Victory Square on Sunday.
Using a small, sharp knife, Suprom carved watermelon, beetroot and pumpkin into beautiful, detailed flowers.
Suprom said she learned the craft while studying to be a chef at an international school in Thailand.
Fruit carving has been a respected art-form in Thailand for centuries and was originally used to decorate the tables of the royal family.
‘‘It still continues today. Most of the chefs in Thailand they should use this if they are a Thai chef.
‘‘They should know how to do a little bit of this,’’ Suprom said.
‘‘I think it’s quite interesting to turn something that looks very simple and bland into something that’s really amazing. Some people don’t even know what it’s made from.’’
Suprom, who works as a masseuse, said it took her up to 90 minutes to carve smaller piece of fruit and most of the day to complete a larger one.
She said the carvings were used on special occasions either as a table centrepiece or garnish on a plate.
The purpose was to make the food look beautiful and ‘‘make you feel hungry when you look at it’’, she said.
Suprom said she was blown away by the reactions of people to her carvings at Race Unity Day.
‘‘It’s amazing. I’m really happy with myself and everyone comes and says this is amazing.’’
She said she usually only makes the carvings for special events at the Thai Bhuddist Temple in Richmond.
However, she’s had requests to produce them for other special occasions such as weddings.