Watermelon Carving

My first attempt.

 Now, you may have seen a glassblower tinkering away, perhaps a carpenter making a chess piece pepper grinder or even an ice sculptor at work but you can't eat such artwork. So let me introduce you to fruit carving! I had never heard of it until I saw a video slide show on YouTube earlier last year of these amazing Asian chefs creating some phenomenal table displays with these absolutely mind-boggling 3D designs carved into the sides of these huge hunks of fruit. I was blown away! There they were with needle-like knives, bent over with such intent faces of concentration, slowly but surely carving out the most intricate of designs. Much like these...

 OK, confession time: I can be very competitive by nature. So, as I watched a few more videos I began to think, "You know what? That doesn't look that difficult..." Within the next few days, I was in the fruit section of Lidl with a huge watermelon in the trolley.

Not mine as yet but the possibilities are just endless...

 A few things to consider before you start. You will need a good, fresh watermelon. When carving a watermelon you are working with four colours: The dark green outer peel, the lighter green just after that, the white flesh and the red flesh. If your watermelon is fresh then these four colours are much more distinguished. The knives that you will see the professionals use are so much easier if you are wanting to go really detailed but you will mostly get away with a regular paring knife. You will often also need a melon baller and  what's known as a "lazy susan" or a "dumb waiter".

You'll find that the professionals
will use knives similar to these.

Not a whole lot of skill required but
it's still among my favourites.
It's cute and kid's will love it!

 Above, you will see that I went for a surface design of roses. Surface designs can often be much more precision based and rather tricky but you can do something shell based such as a pram full of balled melon and other fruits, a peacock which can look most regal, or this rather cute turtle to the right. It's up to you and how adventurous you feel at the time. Below is a shark's head which I enjoyed doing.

 There are a bazillion tutorials on YouTube so get on the net and keep your eye out for a design you like the look of.

I did this outside for a few kids at a birthday party.  It took only a few minutes but the crowd loves it!

"I don't bite, mate. Honest..."

As you can see, this is the wrong knife and I am holding it
precariously by the blade!  Don't try this at home. Wait for the right tools.

Watermelon carving demands a steady hand!

Keeping an eye on all the blades...

Entertaining the crowd!

"To glorify my Savior, Jesus Christ, the Creator  

of the universe and spread further abroad His glorious gospel." - Yours Truly