And now for something slightly different. Ju Duoqi is a young artist who recreates famous paintings with a cast of wet market characters—literally vegetables and foods like onions, lettuce, potatoes, rice and tofu. Ju, originally from Chongqing, is now represented by the Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery in Beijing’s 798 art district where she recently held a solo exhibition. Ju says of her work “Everything has a spirit, each vegetable, each person, and each second, under careful observation, has extraordinary meaning. What makes me happy is that when I see Napoleon on his Potato [pictured above], I can think back to when I fried him up and ate him at two in the morning in the summer of 08.”

I’m not sure if I would want one of these works on my wall, but there is something deeply intriguing about the silhouette of Napoleon’s horse-shaped potato, it looks so very horse-like in its lines and even the markings are somehow animal, yet at the same time clearly it is a potato. Check out more of Ju’s edible works here, and a short Youtube video by the Guardian of the artist talking about her choice of medium. What do you think about food as art, or art as food?

View all my latest articles under my dining blog - The Dish