What comes to mind when thinking of ice, butter, chocolate, sugar and bread dough?

No, I am not talking of a nice long drink, butter on toasted bread, chocolate to satisfy a craving or sugar in a cake mix.

A food preparation and production lecturer at the Institute of Tourism Studies, Andrew Farrugia comes up with all sorts of creations out of these ingredients. He is a sculptor and can produce anything imaginable out of edible media.

As Mr Farrugia led us to a table at the ITS restaurant, we stopped to have a look at a crib which was created by students assisted by their lecturers. A small sign in front of the crib said that it was made out of “salted bread dough, cinnamon sticks, dwarf beans, dried peas, beans, lentils, sesame seeds, semolina, rosemary, pink peppers and chestnuts.”

This was only part of the work for ITS students this Christmas. As Mr Farrugia explained, some 9,000 mince pies had been prepared over the past days with proceeds going towards charity. They also took part in the Christmas Village events at Ta’ Qali during the second weekend of December and are currently working on the preparation of Apple Strudels with the help of an Austrian pastry chef. The pies are being sold every evening at the Christmas markets currently being held in Mellieha.

At ITS, Mr Farrugia’s focus is on pastry, baking and the making of desserts as well as lessons related to theory and the school’s general curriculum. During classes, he often gives demonstrations on food sculpting before students. The school was also in the process of trying to introduce these specialised courses however, Mr Farrugia explained that he teaches some 70 to 80 students per year and such courses required more resources than others, especially since the work was time consuming and a good amount of individual attention was needed for students to learn from scratch.

He also pointed out that an average of 30 to 40 students followed the Advanced Diploma course in Food Preparation and Production every year. This gave them the qualification to become executive chefs in major hotels around the island and some furthered their studies or followed more specialised courses abroad.

A number of chefs also entered culinary competitions both in Malta and abroad often doing very well. This served to widen their horizons and open doors for further opportunities, he explained.

ITS had very good standards especially when considering that it was run by public funds and that similar schools abroad were financed by huge amounts of money from students’ pockets, he said.

Mr Farrugia has been working as a pastry chef and food sculptor for the past 28 years and a lecturer for the past 11 years. His vast experience in the field landed him a job at an Egyptian branch of the Glion Hotel Management School in Switzerland. From time to time, Mr Farrugia also works for Choco-Story, one of the leading Belgian chocolate companies in Bruges, which houses a number of his works. He also worked for an American book on carving published by the Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan.

During our conversation, he explained that all his works are totally hand made after he produces sketches of the works. At times he even starts working on an idea which comes to mind then leaves it up to his artistic imagination and golden hands.

If it were not for the hands, the clock would be useless, he went on to say. Thus he does not like to use moulds and only makes use of tools “to bring out fine details”. However, it is also noticeable that the eye of the master does more than his two hands.

“Good vision for details is very important in this kind of work,” he explained, adding that while he can work very fast with his hands, details must come out.

In food or sweet sculptures, two main techniques are used to create these pieces – modelling by which one builds a sculpture as when one builds a clay sculpture. This is often used when creating works out of butter or fat. Carving out of a block is another technique and is often used when working with ice or chocolate, Mr Farrugia explained.

He also pointed out that ice and chocolate are his favourite media because he had been waiting for years before he managed to master this technique after having the opportunity to learn in different countries, including Belgium and the United States.

While showing me a photo album of his works, Mr Farrugia pointed out one of the largest works he ever sculpted: an actual size representation of Michelangelo’s ‘Madonna of Bruges’ 1501 sculpture.

“This is very similar to the ‘Madonna di Pieta’ sculpture and is the only sculpture of Michelangelo displayed in Belgium and not in Rome,” he explained. The work was carved out of 750 kilograms of white chocolate and was finished in four days. Mr Farrugia designed his plan for this work after seeing a small photograph of the original work which is 1.1 metres high.

Another impressive photo was that of a locally held weddings fair in which Mr Farrugia created wedding cakes, centre pieces, and wedding furnishings including chandeliers out of chocolate and other edible material.

Other remarkable works were pulled sugar pieces which look like stained glass works and ice sculptors which have the effect of crystal glass, especially when displayed under coloured light.

“The only drawback in this work is that the sculptures do not last long and photographs are the only record that lasts,” Mr Farrugia explained.

Meanwhile though, after carrying out the design, creating the actual sculpture, having it adequately displayed and enjoyed by people, “it can then be thrown away,” Mr Farrugia said.

Besides being a culinary artist who describes his job as “a passion,” Mr Farrugia tries to make the best out of it by entertaining people while carving sculptures or creating desserts in front of an audience. In fact, during the end of summer Iljieli Mellehin weekend, he carved out a swan out of an ice block in front of people. The impeccable swan had to be finished in just over an hour before the ice started to melt away.

Another big event which he is looking forward to will be held tomorrow at the lobby of Le Meridien hotel in St Julian’s where a team of the hotel’s chefs led by Mr Farrugia will be “building” a very big cake measuring 16 by 12 feet. The ‘builders’ will be using all sorts of tools such as floats and trowels used in brick work.

Mr Farrugia said that this will be “a must see event.” Furthermore, the cake will be cut and distributed, will all proceeds going towards l- iStrina.

Like every other artist, Mr Farrugia is a dreamer and among his future projects is the ambition to create a whole living room with details such as cutlery set on the table, all out of chocolate.

Another idea which he may be working on in the foreseeable future is the creation of life size statues of personalities similar to those displayed in the Madame Tussaud museums. If realised, this idea would be developed into a museum of exhibits which will be changed from time to time.

Future prospects also include consultancy and the design of a food sculpture museum in China.