Italian chef honors Chinese artist by creating vivid dishes on canvas

With a picture frame as the canvas, incredible culinary creations were hatched at Barolo's dining room as Italian chef Amedeo Ferri made the last course, the dessert, for his guests.

The creation was vivid and colorful, and all the "paint" he threw on the glass was eatable. Black was the Valrhona chocolate, red the raspberry jam, pink the strawberry ice cream, white the yoghurt, green the mint, and pistachio paste.

Not only was Ferri presenting his new creation, he was also saluting the late Chinese artist Zhu Danian (1916-1995), a master in Chinese meticulous painting with heavy colors and pioneer in modern porcelain.

He was approached by Zhu's grandchildren as the family was looking for ways to remember the artist on his 100th birth anniversary. Ferri had previously worked with artists to create food menus, but he knew he needed time to research this time.

[Photo by Jiang Wanjuan / chinadaily.com.cn]

As he appreciated Zhu's floral series, he was immediately amazed, especially by the Magnolia painting. He later learned that the magnolia is a symbol of nobility, perseverance and love of nature in China. The strength of its bloom also stands for self-respect and self-esteem.

"We worked together for about a month to find stuff that matched, and then we chose four paintings for four dishes to create a special menu," he said.

The results are creations that rival some of the paintings of the artist.

[Photo by Jiang Wanjuan / chinadaily.com.cn]

The food is Italian, the presentation resembles floral elements of magnolia, lily and lilacs from the paintings, and ingredients are very spring and local.

An example is the leek flower, which is hard to find and, as far as Ferri knows, only one supplier in Beijing has it.

Purple canola flower, the main ingredient in the salad "The Langostine and The Garden", is another local vegetable you never find on regular western menus. Chinese people usually eat it stir fried but Ferri finds this "crunchy and juicy" vegetable ideal to eat raw in western salad.

[Photo by Jiang Wanjuan / chinadaily.com.cn]

"After years and years, you learn different skills and different cuisines, you research for new ingredients," he said. "And you can create your unique style. This is the best achievement for a chef."

However, mixing food and art is not simple. Good chefs should know where to draw the line between art and the focus on food.

"You always have to keep the taste of the dish, not just for the picture," he said. "You should taste it. You should be the first one to know if it is good or not. Sometimes something can go wrong. So you should find it out yourself first."

If you go

Barolo, The Ritz-Carlton, A83 Jianguolu, Chaoyang District, Beijing (010 - 5908 8151)