San Antonio College Library

Executive Chef Ray Duey gets into the intricate details of the ultimate creations: fun with carrots, rutabaga ginger flowers, Tuscan cantaloupe, cucumber lobster, turnip flowers, layered turnip, reversed watermelon, canary melon geometric patterns, watermelon outside in, papaya vase, watermelon wonder, and the Mozart grand finale. Also learn Chef Ray's cut & paste to create the ultimate centerpiece!

Chef Ray Duey picks up where The Basics left off with teaching more advanced carving techniques. He gives in-depth instruction on how to create: apple turtles, turkeys, swans, and butterflies. He teaches garnishes made of mushrooms, zucchini, and tomatoes, potato roses, Japanese watermelon lanterns, Thai praline leaves, and more, all resulting in an impressive centerpiece using most of the items carved in this program.

Chef Ray Duey starts with the basics, from explaining tools and proper tool handling and techniques, to creating a myriad of fun vegetable and fruit decorative creations, including: root flowers, bell pepper poinsettias, apple luminary, leek chrysanthemums, layered cantaloupe, zucchini flowers, a banana dolphin, and much more. The chef also creates a stunning centerpiece using most of the items carved in this program.

Japanese cuisine is renowned for the beauty of its presentation. Among the key elements in this presentation style are mukimono--the decorative garnishes and carvings that add the final flourish to a dish. It might be a carrot round in the shape of a plum blossom. Or a scattering of cherry blossoms plucked from a radish. Perhaps a swallow, a butterfly, a ginkgo leaf or a cluster of pine needles. Whatever the motif, it will have been created to delight...