Edible ArtBY PAM COOPER

When visiting New YorkCity, you must go to the

Greenhouse Restaurant,located in the Marriott in the World

Trade Center. And when you arrive,notice the beautiful pastry show-piece on the dessert buffet table-itis the creation of Max Kitano.

Max is the pastry chef at theMarriott and a very busy andindustrious individual. Pastry art isonly one of his many responsibili-ties at the hotel. A man of manyhats, his duties involve supervisingand scheduling restaurant staff,attending meetings, ordering sup-plies, doing reams of paperwork,and seeing to the endless detailsthat come with restaurant manage-ment. Amazingly, Max still findstime to create masterpieces madeentirely from sugar. The displaysmay take him more than a monthfrom concept to completion, butwhen finished, the showpieces areexquisite examples of artisticexpression. The most surpris-ing aspect is that the designsare completely edible, beingmade entirely of sugarpaste and painted withfood coloring.

Originally from Japan,this year marks the lO-yearanniversary of Max's arrivalin America. His father is aretired photojournalist, andhis mother taught theJapanese tea ceremony.Their activity in the visualand cultural arts was a nat-

ural inspiration for theirson and the career pathultimately chose. Max gup painting and drawing,realizing that he had allaffinity for art and creattx~ity. When he can find thJ~time, he still enjoyspainting flowers andfemales, using airbrushand colored pencil.

During his firsttwo years in theUnited States, Max

attended a culinary school inMaryland. He chose to pursue acareer in pastry after realizing thathe could use his artistic talents and

express his creativity, both to theeye and tongue, through pastry."After graduation," Max says, "Iworked at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in

Atlanta, then in a variety of hotelsand restaurants in New York." Hisinitial goal was to be an artist, butinstead, he became a cook in a pas-try kitchen, working for talentedFrench pastry chefs. While undertheir tutelage, he learned about thewonderful world and history ofconfectionery art. "The use of theairbrush in the pastry kitchen isrelatively common," Max says. "Asairbrushes and compressorsbecame more affordable, more andmore pastry chefs began using air-

,Decorative displays sculpted entirely from sugar paste and airbrushed with food coloring.

brush techniques to finish theircreations. In fact, even before air-brush was available, chefs wereusing a straw, dipping one end incolor and blowing through theother end, just like spray overmarzipan fruit."

The process of creating one ofMax's showpieces begins longbefore the actual project is con-structed. Since the confectionerycreation shares space on thedessert buffet table, the first con-sideration is how much room to

allow for the showpiece. Whiledetermining the size, the theme isalso being developed. Max selectsthe themes according to seasons,holidays or something unique andfun, being careful to choose themesthat are neutral and unrelated to

religious holidays. Changing thedisplay periodically keeps the dis-play interesting for the restaurantpatrons and provides continualchallenges for Max's creative urges.

He ga'thers information forideas from a variety of sources:magazines, books, catalogs, thelibrary and by observing displaysat department stores and gourmetshops. Eventually, a themeemerges, and he begins to sketchout his designs. "My lovely wife isa great inspiration," he says."When I try to finish my drawings,she gives me a lot of ideas. By the

time I complete the final designsketch, I begin to think about thematerials to be used, the methodsto be applied and the colors to besprayed by airbrush."

Visualization plays an impor-tant role in the development of thedesign and process for implementa-tion. Once the final design is doneon paper, Max says, "I see theshowpiece in my mind, and I'mvery confident about how I canmake it. During visualization, Ifind the easiest and most effective

way to produce the individualpieces that will be used in the dis-play." Most oftheitems can be shapedby hand. But vegeta-bles like corn, broc-coli, cauliflower,etc., are very diffi-cult, so he uses aninstant mold mix tomake a mold of theitems. After themold is made, heputs the sugar pasteinside and presses toget an indentation.Wine bottles are also

made using thismethod. Some items,like the wine barrel,are made by lookingat pictures gatheredduring his research.

Since he doesn't always have theactual model to work from, it's

especially helpful to have a num-ber of photographs taken at differ-ent angles. He draws the patternpieces on foamcore, taking carefulconsideration of scale and dimen-sion. He then cuts out the individ-

ual pieces and assembles them tomake the structural base for itemssuch as the wine barrel.

Adjustments to size and form aremade at this stage.

The completed showpiecetends to become fragile, bulky andheavy, so the display should have

1996 VOL3.2 AIRBRUSH 59

Displays sculpted from sugar paste and airbrushed with food coloring (note rolled sugar paste ribbon at right).---1

substantial support and be con-structed strongly. A poorly con-structed display will collapse fromits own weight, by shock or vibra-tion. The foamcore board used in

construction provides the neededstructural foundation. Once the

forms are complete, Max begins toapply the sugar paste to each item. -The sugar paste becomes hard andbrittle when dry, so a sturdy struc-ture is very important.

Max paints the individualpieces using the airbrush toachieve a realistic look. Food safetyis of special concern, so Max usesfood coloring to achieve the lookhe wants. "Liquid food colors areso easy to use," comments Max."Just like colored ink, it is ready todrop into the hand piece of the air-brush and spray right away." Foodcolors come in a variety of forms:powder, oil-base paste and concen-trated. The food coloring is easy tomix, and because it is water solu-ble, it is easy to clean-unlike mostartists' paints. In the pastry kitchenit is common to use either meltedwhite, dark or milk chocolateinstead of paint to spray throughthe airbrush. The chocolate is easyto keep fluid while painting byputting the cup in hot water. "I usePaasche's economical (H) model atwork, because this type of workdoesn't require super detail.Simply apply the 'paint' in thin

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I60 AIRBRUSH VOL 3.2 1996

layers of different colors. Double-action is useful, but single-action isstill OK. When working at home, Iuse an Iwata airbrush."

The display is usually replacedafter about a month; it then goesinto a special storage room. Theseshowpieces are often used again fordisplay in the hotel's banquetroom. Occasionally, a showpiecebecomes damaged in storage ortransport. When damaged, it is dis-assembled and the individual

pieces are recycled for use in newdisplays. Max has received numer-ous compliments about his work,and in most cases, guests are sur-prised to learn that the display ismade entirely of sugar and yetlooks so realistic.

Reflecting on his accomplish-ments, Max remarks that being apastry chef is a career and art dis-play is only a part of that voca-tion. "Using the airbrush is onlyone of the many techniques usedin pastry. In the diverse and vastworld of pastry, I choose to spe-cialize in artistic display and byusing the airbrush. There are somany aspects to it-it is kind ofamazing that way." As for thefuture, Max hopes to continue cre-ating new displays. One of hisgoals is to write a book to show-case his work and share his tech-

niques with others who love con-fectionery art.

1 A piece of foamcore is used forthe backdrop; a foil-lined base

will become the skating rink.

Pieces of styrofoam secured withbamboo sticks are used to build

a foundation.

Sugar icing is spread over thestyrofoam to form the hills.

Food coloring is used to colorthe hills and the backdrop.

Sugar paste is rolled flat, cut intotree shapes and allowed to dry.

Yellow and green food coloringis applied to the tree shapes.

The trees are arranged on thebackdrop. Sugar is poured to

make the skating rink and crystal-lized sugar is placed around it.Pieces of colored sugar paste areadded to the hillside for stairs, andmore blue is added around the frost-

ing on the edges.

Poles and benches made of sugarpaste are added. The ropes

between the poles are rolled icing.

The penguins are individuallyshaped by hand from sugar

paste, then painted by hand. A con-fectionary glaze is airbrushed overthem for a nice finish. ..",".".WTI-