Chinese Croquembouche

(2023)

Chinese Croquembouche is a savoury twist on a classic french dessert presented as a durational interactive sculpture. A traditional croquembouche consists of choux pastry puffs piled into a cone and bound together with threads of caramel. Chinese Croquembouche has a savoury filling and is bonded with a sticky, salty maple syrup caramel. Visually, the tower resembles the traditional sweet dessert, it is only upon further inspection with the smell and taste senses, that you are faced with flavours you were not expecting. This edible sculptural piece allows viewers to become participants and contributors as each choux pastry puffs gets removed from the tower for consumption. Chinese Croquembouche demonstrates my approach to food and my experiences as a Chinese Adoptee. My authenticity is continuously challenged, and I am not always what people expect me to look, sound or act like.

(2021)

This interactive sculpture is a savoury twist on a classic french dessert. A croquembouche is a pastry cream stuffed choux pastry tower that is stuck together with sweet caramel. My version has a savoury chinese flavoured bean sprout and cabbage filling. For the caramel aspect, I created a concentrate of soy sauce, hoisin, rice vinegar, mushroom oyster sauce, garlic and ginger. I took that concentrate and mixed a bit of it into simmering maple syrup. I let this concoction bubble down into a hard ball caramel. With all of the new elements, I constructed the tower the day of reviewing. This piece requires activation and destruction in order for it to be “completed”. The rest of the art making happens through the deliberate action of the participants.