Edible art: Makings beautiful displays to be both seen and consumed

SOUTH SALT LAKE — It takes a creative person to see a basket where others see a watermelon, a vase where some see a pineapple, and the makings for a sheep where the untrained see cauliflower and cloves.

Natalie Snow, a culinary instructor at Orson Gygi in South Salt Lake, views fruits and vegetables as the makings for beautiful displays to be both seen and consumed. For beginning and advanced garnishing classes she instructs, Snow uses her background in graphic design to make ordinary fruits and vegetables into eye-pleasing, edible centerpieces.

Though she has spent upward of eight hours carving a single watermelon into a swan, Snow says there are many simple projects that will make family and friends "think you're so amazing. ... It's not as hard as you think."

The right fruit and the right tools are the most important things to take to the counter when it's time to start carving, Snow says. It's best to choose fruits that are not quite ripe so they will be firm when they're cut. Snow instructs her students to buy fruit — at the earliest — the day before they're going to be used, because "fruit is unpredictable and ripens at different rates." Melons, strawberries, grapes and pineapple bring colorful variety and are good options for many projects.

Sharp knives are also important, as well as a having a few specialty kitchen gadgets. "You can do a lot with just a few tools," she says. Snow recommends picking up from a kitchen supply store a crinkle cutter — a wavy-shaped blade with a handle, a zig-zag cutter — a serrated V-shape tool, a melon baller and a few small paring knives.

Here's a look at how to make some eye-popping edible displays.

Melon basket

Here's what you'll need:

1 large watermelon

Washable marker

Zig-zag cutting tool (optional)

Pieces of fruit to fill the basket

To make a melon basket, Snow recommends selecting a watermelon or large canteloupe. With the melon lying on its side, cut a thin slice of rind off the ugly side — if there is one — to stabilize it so it doesn't roll around. Using a washable marker, lightly draw horizontal guidelines all the way around the melon. The line should be a little more than halfway up from the bottom. Draw two vertical lines 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart across the top of the melon; this will become the handle of the basket. Starting at the horizontal guidelines, use a zig-zag tool to cut the melon. Then cut along the vertical lines.

Carefully remove the cut-out sections (they may need to be cut into smaller pieces in order to remove them more easily). Cut out some of the remaining fruit using a melon baller, but be careful not to take out too much of the rind, as doing so will weaken the basket.

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