A Taiwanese baker has made a 170cm tall chocolate model of Taipei 101 to promote the World Chocolate Wonderland exhibition that will open in Taipei next month. The baker, Lee Kuo-yi (李國溢), said it took him and his team one month to create the piece, which is made from almost 20kg of chocolate.
“The biggest challenge is how to keep the chocolate in perfect condition,” said Lee, who won a silver medal at HOFEX last year, Asia’s leading food and hospitality trade show.
Chocolate is a fragile medium in food art because it melts at temperatures of more than 20°C and cracks at temperatures lower than 0°C, he said.
In an effort to promote Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries, the organizers of the exhibition have invited Lee and other Taiwanese master bakers to submit food art for the show.
The show, which was held in Beijing earlier this year and will move to Taiwan on July 3, will exhibit the work of more than 100 world-class bakers, depicting structures like the Great Wall of China, China’s terracotta army and the Mogao Caves.
Phoebe Chen, the mother of a three-year-old, said she and her son would go to the exhibition because they both loved the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
“I think it is great that chocolate is the medium used in the exhibition,” she said.
The exhibition will be held at National Taiwan Science Education Center in Shihlin (士林), Taipei, from July 3 to Sept. 26.
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