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May 18, 2013 |
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 For thousands of years, artful presentations of colors, textures, smells, sounds, and different surfaces have been included into buffet presentations and plate presentations, to make the meal experience more than just a way to get nourishment. Ice carving has always been one of the many ways chefs demonstrate that their job is more than “just” cooking. We celebrate this art form with our ice carving competition.
Ice has grain just like wood, but it is very fragile and of course perishable at normal room temperatures. Chefs start with a block of ice that is about five feet tall, three feet wide, and a foot and ˝ thick and weights about 300 lbs. It is necessary to get the design into this limited framework in a short period of time, and then refreeze the block so that it will have good life on a buffet. In the old days work was done with specialized chisels and ice carving forks. Now chain saws, router tools, and heated irons are used along with salt enhanced ice shavings to make more complex designs. Most competitors participating in Taste are practicing chefs at local restaurants. The winner of this competition is sponsored in his/her September attempt to win the state of Florida title, in Orlando. |
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