The story of a cook

Chapter 33 Practice Sculpting
The fourth child brought a sculpture book from home, which contained pictures and exploded diagrams, written in great detail, and studied while reading.

To learn carving, you must first have a carving knife.

There is no carving knife, and the fourth child said that there is a sale on Shisanwei Road, where all the carving knives are sold in complete sets.I can't afford a whole set of carving knives, more than 100.The fourth child said that he had a set and would bring it when he came home next time.But there is only one knife in a set of carving knives, so I can't have it if he uses it.

It's all right, use a hacksaw blade to grind it yourself, wrap it with tape after grinding, and a simple hand knife will be done.

At the beginning, I couldn’t use radishes to practice carving, because radishes are too expensive, and if they are broken, it would be a waste.Practice with potatoes first. If the potatoes are broken, they can be used as a work meal, which is not a waste.

Start practicing with the simplest rose flower.

Choose a large potato from the potato bag, cut it in half, and use a fruit knife to break the flower base first.I am good at beating blanks. I practiced it when Master Chen was around, and I have reached a proficiency level.

After 1 minute, a very standard blank was completed in hand.

Start to change the self-made carving knife, ready to carve.

I am used to holding a kitchen knife, but I am not used to holding a small knife at first.Even if you are not used to it, you have to practice. Everything you learn is a craft.

Hold a knife in your right hand and a potato in your left, and start practicing petal by petal.

It is really easy to see flowers and difficult to embroider.It feels very simple to read the decomposition diagram of rose flowers engraved in the book, and I thought that I only need to follow the above steps to engrave it.I didn't realize that was the case when I took the knife to carve it myself-the knife is still not stable, let alone carve.

The first petal was about to be cut away, and the hand trembled, it was over, it was scrapped, and it fell.

Drop it and engrave it again.

The carving knife came to the bottom of the petal gently. This time the effect is better than last time. As long as the knife is retracted, the petal is considered a success. Seeing that there is still a little meat left at the bottom, I use a little force, thinking that it is to carve that little meat. It was over when I came down, I was too nervous to think about it, I used too much strength, the tip of the knife pierced the bottom of the petal, and directly pierced the palm of my left hand, and a small blood bead appeared brightly red.

It was scrapped again.

I was so angry that I had the urge to throw the potatoes in the trash.

Be steady, knowing that you are too nervous, put down the potatoes and carving knife, shake your wrists and move around, relax and continue carving.After failing five times in total and pricking the palms four times, the first petal was finally carved.

I was a little excited when I saw the first petal.

Chase after victory.

If the first piece is successful, the second piece will be successful. When the five outermost petals are all successful, it is already the third potato. There are countless small eyes pierced in the left hand. uncomfortable.I blame myself for sharpening the knife too sharply, it's better to blunt it.

Watching me practice engraving, the fourth and second children also practice, they are not much better than me, and the palms of their hands have been pierced a lot.

The boss saw that we were practicing engraving and no one was chatting with him, so he began to beat us with words.

"Just your big hands and claws are still carving flowers, and you can't even draw and carve. I can graduate from college when you carve flowers."

The fourth child said, "Just wait until you graduate from college."

"You know, to learn sculpture, you must first have a foundation in painting. Without a foundation in painting, you can't learn at all." The boss said.

"We don't learn complicated ones, we can engrave simple flowers." I said.

"You also have to have a foundation in painting." The boss said, "I know Qi Xin, a master sculptor. He graduated from Lumei and has a foundation in art, otherwise he wouldn't be a master sculptor."

It is indeed difficult to learn sculpture without art skills. Sculpture requires a three-dimensional sense, and at the same time requires ingenuity and patience. Without patience, it is impossible to practice.

No flower was carved on the first day, but the flower was carved on the second layer.

The next day, the second child threw the carved potatoes into the trash can.

"You two practice, I won't practice."

The second child withdrew from the carving team, while the fourth child and I were still insisting.

On the second day, I still didn't carve out a complete flower, not even the embryonic form of the flower, but it was much better than the first day. The hand holding the knife was no longer awkward and trembling, and it didn't always pierce the palm of my hand.

I didn't rush to leave after get off work at night, and told the boss to go back later.He took out four more potatoes and prepared to go back to the dormitory after carving them.

I was left alone in the whole kitchen, sitting in front of the case and started practicing.

It's already more than ten degrees below zero at night in winter.The kitchen is okay when cooking, the stove is on fire, the room is hot, and sometimes I sweat.When the cooking fire was gone, the temperature in the room began to drop.I didn't feel that cold at first, but when I felt it, my hands were already icy cold. I blew on my mouth to warm my hands, and insisted on carving four potatoes.

By the time the engraving was over, my hands were almost numb.

Get out of the kitchen and turn off the lights.

When they came to the lobby, all the guests had left, and Zhang Ling was left to collect the bill, and a waiter on duty had already changed and stood there waiting for Zhang Ling to collect the bill and go back to the dormitory together.

The two of them felt very strange seeing me, and asked me why I hadn't left yet, and I said I hadn't finished practicing until I had practiced.

Zhang Ling asked, "What skills have you practiced?"

I said, "Practice five-finger hand piercing with a knife."

"Speak up, what are you doing in the kitchen?"

"Practice engraving." I replied.

"Is it engraved?"

"No, it hurts to prick your hand."

I opened my left hand to show her.

She felt a little distressed when she saw the small eyes with blood stars on the palms of her hands, and said to me: "Does it hurt? If it doesn't work, stop practicing. Look at the hands."

"It's okay, it will be fine in two days."

On the third day, I was able to carve out the prototype of the rose flower, but it was not very beautiful, and there was some flesh between the petals, and it was relatively thick.

After watching it, the boss said: "It's very good. It's better than the first two days. Continue to practice." Then he said, "It's almost done. Don't practice today."

"What's wrong today? Why aren't you allowed to practice?" I asked.

The boss said: "I still eat potatoes every day, so I can't change it."

I laughed, I have indeed eaten potatoes for three days.

Stop engraving, read the engraving book carefully.

When I didn't practice engraving, I thought engraving was quite simple when I read books, but after drawing with my own hands, I found that it was not so simple.Now that I have finished gesturing and then read the book, I suddenly understand what I didn't understand before, as if a layer of window paper was suddenly pierced, and there is a clear and cheerful feeling.

Continue to practice, and on the fifth day, the rose flower can be carved out, and it looks pretty good.

I went to the morning market early on Saturday morning and bought a half-woven bag of Xinxinmei radish at the market.The raw materials for carving began to be changed from shotgun to cannon, and carved with Xinmei radish.

Xinmei radishes are much better than potatoes.First, Xinxinmei radishes are bigger and rounder than potatoes, and they look good when carved; second, they are not as crisp as potatoes, and the petals are not easy to break, so they are easy to harvest.

When I soaked the first Chinese rose carved out of Xinmei radish in the water, and saw the petals opening in the water, I felt so happy, so beautiful, I wanted to sing.

The first flower was recognized by everyone, and the boss still used this flower.

Put it on a plate of "braised crucian carp in sauce", and the braised crucian carp in sauce decorated with rose flowers immediately becomes more classy. Even the waiter who serves the dishes likes it, saying that the guests must like it.

After seeing this result, the second child and the fourth child who had already dropped the carving knife picked up the carving knife and practiced again.

Continue to engrave rose flowers until the engraving is clear.

Now it takes more than ten minutes to carve a rose flower. With continuous practice and engraving, it feels more and more smooth, and the carved flowers are more and more beautiful, and the time is getting shorter and shorter. After five days, it can be done in 2 minutes. Carve out a qualified rose flower.

As long as it is a fish dish, it must be served with a rose flower. Seeing my work being brought to the table, I feel a sense of accomplishment in my heart.

After engraving rose flowers, I started to practice engraving roses.It is not so difficult to carve roses. On the basis of carving rose flowers, if you change the knife technique slightly, you will get roses.

After the roses were carved, I practiced carving dahlias, magnolias, and chrysanthemums, and carved all these flowers.

The three of us, the second child and the fourth child, spend half an hour a day carving a pot of flowers, which is enough for a day.

There is no restaurant in Santaizi with engraved decorations when serving food, and Shengmei Hotel is the first.Many restaurant chefs came to study, especially Shen Fei Hotel, the head chef of his family even came to poach people in private, but unfortunately, neither my second child nor my fourth child could go.Through this, I understand a truth, as long as you have craftsmanship, you can eat a bowl of rice wherever you go.

The flower engraving is almost done, and I started to study the engraved animals.

Let's start with the simplest bird.

Carving a bird is more difficult than carving a flower, and it is even more difficult if you do not have art skills.

To carve a bird, you have to use carrots. I went to the morning market to pick thick carrots and bought a half-woven bag, and then I started practicing when I came back.

Watch me engrave the bird, and the second and fourth children will also engrave together.

After three days of engraving, I didn't even finish engraving the prototype of the bird.The second child and the fourth child put down the carving knives, saying that it is enough to carve some flowers for cooking, and carving birds and animals is the job of the sculptor, so they don't want to learn.

The boss said: "It's just the three of you that clumsy girl who still carves birds, and you two can fly with wings."

Everyone just laughed.

I didn't give up, I tinkered with it whenever I had time, and I never gave up.

After a week of hard work, I finally carved a passable bird.

The boss took the little bird and looked at it carefully.

"The third child continues to practice. The bird carving has already taken shape, but it is not very good. Continue to carve a few more times."

Put the bird in the water basin and start carving again.

Seeing my results, the fourth child asked the second child: "Second child, are you still engraving?"

The second child said: "I won't engrave, you can engrave if you love it, I don't have that artistic talent."

The fourth child saw that the second child did not engrave it, and felt that it was boring and did not engrave it.

After using up half of the woven bag of carrots, the little bird has already carved it proficiently.

Then I bought big green radishes and started to carve peacocks. After the peacocks were finished, I carved phoenixes.

It is much easier to carve peacocks and phoenixes after the birds are carved. They are all birds, and the engraving methods are similar, from simple to complex.

The engraved birds, peacocks, and phoenixes are all used, and it looks very classy when served with dishes.Every time I see the things I engraved are placed on the plate and let the waiter carry them to the guests, I feel very happy.

Nothing is unachievable.If I stop engraving halfway through like the fourth and second children, that is, I can carve a few simple flowers, and the peacocks and phoenixes in the later period will not even think about it.

To sum up, everything is persistence, and persistence is victory.

Carving only plays a decorative role in cooking. Learning carving will not improve your cooking skills, but as a chef, it is still necessary to order simple carvings, at least to make the dishes look beautiful and classy.

Zhang Ling asked me: "Little brother, are you going to be a chef or cold dishes? I see that you are good at carving, do you like cold dishes?"

"It's not that I like making cold dishes, but I just learn how to carve when I have time," I said.

"You are very caring."

"Thank you sister for your compliment." I said, "Many chefs know how to carve, so it's okay to learn more."

(End of this chapter)