Vietnamese man stuns with his fondant art
Friday, July 26, 2024, 16:17 GMT+7
Nguyen Huu Thien An from Ho Chi Minh City in late June won big at the 2024 Battle of the Chefs, a culinary competition organized by Penang Chefs Association with his stunning handcrafted fondant art.
At the contest held in Penang, Malaysia, An won a gold medal with his “Harmony" wedding cake at the Modern Stylish Wedding Cake category and a silver medal at the Pastry Art Showpiece category for his “Memories” fondant art.
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| Nguyen Huu Thien An poses with his ‘Memories’ fondant art which won a silver medal at the Pastry Art Showpiece category at the 2024 Battle of the Chefs in Penang, Malaysia in June 2024. Photo: Supplied |
While “Harmony” delivered a message of everlasting love; “Memories” depicted a mother’s portrait with a happy smile on her face, highlighted by some Vietnamese home dishes.
The 25-year-old said it took him around eight hours a day for three months to work on the works before bringing them to the contest.
According to An, it was the rainy season when he was making the works for the competition and the fondant was vulnerable to humidity, so he had to preserve the works in food wrap and put them in an air-conditioned room at all times.
When it came to transporting the works to the competition abroad, An had to pack them in separate pieces of luggage, and equipped them with desiccant packs and foam balls to keep the works dry and avoid impact.
An developed his interest in fondant art while he was working at some bakeries in Ho Chi Minh City a few years ago.
The passion later grew so enormous that An decided to quit his job and completely focused on learning and mastering fondant art early this year.
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| Nguyen Huu Thien An is flattening a piece of fondant to paint on it. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre News |
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| Nguyen Huu Thien An is painting on a piece of flattened fondant. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre News |
“At first, I focused on drawing pictures of my childhood through comic book characters, then practiced drawing countryside scenes,” An recalled.
“If everyone understands the story behind my works and gets the message conveyed, that’s what makes me happy the most,” he added.
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| Vietnamese traditional Tet (Lunar New Year) foods made out of fondant by Nguyen Huu Thien An. Photo: Supplied |
In the future, Thien plans to put effort into international fondant art competitions and run fondant classes for those who are interested in the art.
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| A piece featuring Harry Potter character’s Professor Albus Dumbledore by Nguyen Huu Thien An. Photo: Supplied |
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