See what this artist does with Australia’s favourite stone fruit

Just when you might be ready to give up on avocado, there's this.

After tackling all kinds of fruit and veg, this clever chef has turned his attention to the avo. Source: Instagram / Daniele Baressi

When they’re not destabilising millennials’ formidable buying power in the housing market or acting as a vessel for a very strange latte, avocados are still everywhere, mixed up in shakes or smashed into scrambled eggs.

But now there’s a new use for the beloved avocado. Meet Daniele Barresi, a 26-year-old Italian national, currently based in Sydney,  who treats avocados (and other tropical fruits) as art canvases. Employing the ancient Thai art of food carving, Barresi creates intricate, ornate sculptures out of everything from avocados and zucchinis, to wheels of cheese.

He even turns bars of soap into art:

Baressi's Instagram account features striking composite images showing his detailed carvings - this one in soap. Source: Danielle Baressi via Instagram

Since picking up the carving technique from YouTube 7 years ago, Barresi has won multiple international awards and rightfully taken social media feeds by storm. His carvings have graced wedding tables in Italy and Australia alike, and they’ve even earned him sponsorship from a Sydney-based catering company. 

“My purpose is to show my skills through media and television,” Barresi says. “My dream is to have my own TV show so I can teach other people the art of decorating with food.”

While he’s not the first person to take a knife to an avocado in the name of art (check out #avocadoart on Instagram for proof), he’s developed a style that’s both personal and unusual. Unlike Japanese artist Gaku’s kaleidoscopic line carvings into apples and broccoli, Barresi takes a softer approach for a result that almost resembles a painting.  

“Everyone does roses and sculptures with fruit, but what I’ve tried is do these things with a touch of my on style,” he says. “I haven’t seen too many other wolves in watermelons before – my style is unique. In Italy we call it ‘ricami,’” which translates literally into English as ‘embroidery’.

Of course, the burning question remains: how does Daniele Barresi take his avocado after carving it into a piece of art?

“Avocado is the best food,” he says. “I eat about 2 per day. I’m an Italian chef, and when I’m there I like to make avocado mousse and serve it with deep fried prawns.”

“But in Australia, there’s nothing better than a big breakfast with plenty of avocado.” Truth.

Check out more of Daniele Barresi’s incredible food art on Instagram.

Listen to Daniele Barresi’s interview (in Italian) with SBS Italian below: