Skip to main content
ad info

 
CNN.com   food > news  
CNN.com EUROPE:
  Editions|myCNN|Video|Audio|News Brief|Free E-mail|Feedback  
 

Search


Search tips
FOOD
TOP STORIES

Texas cattle quarantined after violation of mad-cow feed ban

Spago Hollywood closing its doors

A low-fat standby

Yogurt: Got culture?

Super shrimp for a Super Bowl barbecue

Ask the baker: About pies, bread and chocolate

(MORE)

TOP STORIES

Quake rocks Indian subcontinent

Brussels inquiry into price of CDs

Spain car bomb kills cook

Serbian security chief sacked

(MORE)

 MARKETS    1613 GMT, 12/28
5217.4
-25.00
5160.1
+42.97
4624.58
+33.42

 
SPORTS

(MORE)

 All Scoreboards
WEATHER
European Forecast

 Or choose another Region:
EUROPE

WORLD

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

  IN OTHER NEWS

U.S.

HEALTH

TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE

NATURE



(MORE HEADLINES)
EDITIONS:
CNN.com U.S.:
*

LOCAL LANGUAGES:


MULTIMEDIA:

CNN WEB SITES:

CNN NETWORKS:
CNN International

TIME INC. SITES:

SITE INFO:

WEB SERVICES:

Carving up a spooky Halloween

  GALLERY

 

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- What is it about pumpkins that provoke us to carve them up with knives? Are they just too round, plump and happy looking? Are we so enamored with our own bulbous heads that we cannot pass a pumpkin without bringing them to life somehow -- even if it means giving them a jagged half-smile and triangle-shaped eyes?

Whatever the motive behind our carving tradition, A jack-o'-lantern perched on a dark stoop is a sure sign of a kindred Halloween spirit. Anyone can carve some holes and call it complete, but creating a pumpkin with personality takes talent, or at least a good plan.

Kitchen Artist Antonio Alberto is not afraid of tackling the largest of orbs. Armed with frightful-looking chisels and knives, he approaches a 526-pound pumpkin and begins stripping large sections of bright orange skin like strings of confetti.

Coaxing toothy grins from pumpkins has been Alberto's vocation for nine years at the Hilton hotel in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, he can also create almost anything out of chocolate, fruits, vegetables and ice.

  RECIPE
 
  INTERACTIVE
 
  GALLERY
 
Baby pumpkins and Halloween
'Ghoulishly tasteful, stylishly horrible
France goes batty over Halloween
The scariest books of all time
Carving up a spooky Halloween
TV networks brew up spooky Halloween episodes
Don't sit around and molder this Halloween
A passion for pumpkin
Little shop around the coroner funds alternative sentencing program

"I imagine it already," he says as he peels a slowly emerging pumpkin face. Although Alberto needs no diagram or carving kit to create his jack-o'-lantern, he recommends the novice carver design a face on paper before beginning.

Atlanta Hilton Executive Chef Louis Spost says choosing a pumpkin with pedigree is an important starting point.

"I think the main thing is to choose one with no blemishes," he says, "and the flatter the pumpkin side, the easier they are to carve."

Spost advocates choosing a fairly round, smooth pumpkin and using some basic tools to bring your jack-o'-lantern to life.

"A basic v-chisel is useful when you are making lines on the pumpkin's face, and a good sharp kitchen knife that is not too flexible is best to carve the features," he says.

Traditionally, carvers "scalp" their pumpkins by cutting off the top stem portion, but Spost says leaving the top of the pumpkin intact gives you more eyebrow room to work with. Instead, cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin for your candle or other light source.

And if you don't trust your own artistic abilities, Spost says widely available pumpkin carving kits, complete with various patterns and stencils, are good to try.

If a jack-o'-lantern is not your style, consider carving a lovely design on the side of a pumpkin instead.

Alberto uses a small, pointed knife to methodically carve an elaborate sunflower design. First he makes a large circle on the flat side of the pumpkin with his knife. Next, he uses a v-chisel to make a trough around the circle, leaving a silver dollar sized center. Next he uses a delicate kitchen knife to cut out scallop shapes around the center circle. He continues to make larger and larger circles around the center -- each rimmed with consecutively bigger scallop shapes. Finally, using the v-chisel, Alberto makes the "leaves" of the flower by gouging shallow semi-circles on either side of the flower pattern.

The most important thing to remember about carving pumpkins, says Spost, is to have no fear.

"If you ruin it," he says, "make pumpkin pie and start over."



RELATED STORIES:
Pumpkin and Baked Almond Soup
October 27, 2000
Pumpkin: Don't just carve it, eat it

RELATED SITES:
Hilton Atlanta & Towers
World Class Giant Pumpkin Home Page
Swan's Pumpkin Carving
Pumpkin Nook
Pumpkin Carving 101

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
 Search   

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.