The land of the rising sun, Japan is also known for various art forms like origami – the art of paper folding, calligraphy and martial arts. The culture is also a culmination of uncommon traditions. The Japanese tea ceremony, ‘ikebana’ – the art of flower arrangement and preparing food replicas are a few examples. While the tea ceremony is a cultural activity where powdered green tea or matcha is prepared, ikebana on the other hand is a minimalistic arrangement of not only flowers but also other plant parts such as the stems and leaves. While walking through the lanes of Japan, you will find models of food items beautifully displayed outside restaurants or other food establishments. The replicas are highly deceptive and tailor-made for the particular food outlet. For making these replicas generally poly vinyl chloride or colored wax is used. PVC is a synthetic plastic polymer which is used in manufacture of bottles and even bank or membership cards. The flexibility of PVC can be varied by adding plasticizers thus making it the perfect for moulding. Much attention is paid to detail while making the food replicas and not only the end product but also the intermediate stages of cooking and chopped ingredients are also included in the sculptures.
Here you can learn the procedure to make a life-like cabbage using different colored wax. He fills a flat rectangular box with water and then pours white wax on to it. After allowing the wax to form a circular layer over the water, he takes green colored wax and pours it on the edge of the white wax. After a while there is a layer of fused white and green wax. He then creates folds on the wax which will resemble the leaves of the cabbage. He then carefully rolls the section and after tweaking it some more, the final cabbage replica is ready.
This food sculpting technique can be used for recreational purposes and you can try making other food items using different colored wax. Share with family and friends by clicking on the button below.
