Food Fair, Mexican Style
VEGETABLE carving is an art which the Mexicans of Oaxaca celebrate in style. Every year before Christmas on December 23, Oaxaca hosts a festival called the
Night of the Radishes (Noche de Rabanos). At the heart of the festivities is the humble radish.
In colonial times, farmers of Oaxaca carved radishes in religious themes to lure shoppers to their stalls during the annual Christmas market. Oaxaca was already famous for its wood carving and the people drew on the same skills to produce artistic vegetable sculptures.
The story goes that over a century ago, there was a bumper crop of radishes. The mayor of the town declared a radish-carving competition on December 23, 1897. The contest became a time-honoured tradition since then. There are separate contests for adults and children.
The participants start work at least five days before the festival. They first harvest and then clean the radishes. It takes about two days to carve the vegetables. They display the sculptures for judging on the final day when thousands of visitors file past to admire the exhibits. While the most popular theme is the traditional Nativity scene, other themes include scenes from Oaxaca's history, folklore, daily life, wildlife, etc.
The challenge lies not only in carving, but also in ensuring that the radishes continue to look fresh for the duration of the competition. The cut radishes turn brown within a few hours of display, so their beauty can be appreciated only for a limited time. The best presentation wins a grand cash prize.
In order to ensure fairness, the government provides the radishes, which have a red skin and white flesh. The radishes meant for the event are heavily fertilised so that they grow to enormous sizes and acquire weird shapes — they can weigh up to 3 kg and have a length of about 50 cm. These radishes are generally unfit for eating.