In Thailand, there is a University that actually specializes in teaching the art of fruit and vegetable carving and classes in this art are taught in Thai schools. This is a highly sort-after skill. Master craftsmen have learned their skills over many years, and guard them, using them in Thai restaurants and in the schools, colleges, and the University as well as giving tourists demonstrations of their art.
Watermelons are a favorite fruit to use as they have large working surfaces that can be adapted in a great variety of ways. For wedding anniversaries, the couple’s faces can be carved and shaded into the half shell and this is expertly done in fine detail.
Many fruits and vegetables are used, favorites for use are pumpkins and squash, whose shapes lend themselves well to transformed into animals, birds, flowers and other natural elements, the half shells used for boats that hold the shapes carved. Potatoes can be made into toadstools, carrots, into roses or small birds and animals, along with radishes and tomatoes into roses. The variety is endless of what can be made with practice and understanding of the skills involved in Thai fruit and vegetable carving.