In this lavishly illustrated book, Shimatani, who won a carving championship in a recent TV show, gives you every step of carving carefully until ordinary vegetable and fruit turn into beautiful creations. His precise techniques can reach outside the cooking domain and convey the delicate Japanese sense of beauty and culture that has been handed down in an unbroken line. Although the techniques are specially aimed at professional cooks of high-class Japanese restaurants, the techniques themselves are not so difficult as you imagine. Learn the basics steadily and practice, and you will acquire enough skills before you even know it. This book covers from basics to applied techniques:*Carve vegetable into such various shapes as cube, Gingko leaf, hexagon, paper-thin peeling, etc.*Change vegetable to such various shapes as cherry blossoms, Chrysanthemum, camelia and other forms of flower, twists, snail, crane, tortoise, etc.*Beautiful ideas of fruits displays