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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 1991)
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To capture the essence of this unique culinary art, there must be an ice sculptor and Texas A&M has its very own. Keith Meeks, production man ager of the MSC Food Services, had football scholarship offers to almost every major university in the south as a junior in high school, he said. However, when an injury occured, Meeks said no one knew him anymore. "Nobody recruits an injured player," he sai.d. "So, upon gradu ation I found myself unem ployed." The Texas Employment Com mission sent Meeks to the Hyatt Regency at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and that is where he be came fascinated with the food in dustry. "The european chefs at the ho tel saw my fascination and began training me," Meeks said. "I was fortunate to have some of the finest training available." After 15 years of moving around in the hotel industry, he married in 1985 and traveling be came too taxing on his family life. "1 came to Texas A&M in 1989 for stability and a chance to achieve my goals," he said. "I have the support of my superiors, Ron Beard and Lloyd Smith. We all believe that I can attain those goals." Here, he has put into practice what one chef taught him earli er...ice sculpting. "When this chef would carve," Meeks said, "He would drag a block of ice out for me to learn and from there I picked up the tech niques." At this point in his life, he said he is more of a technician. He is striving to be an artist, a master ice carver. "Ice sculpting is mystical," Meeks said, "It captivates an audi ence and give an ambiance of so phistication and elegance." But sculpting does not begin with grace and beauty. It begins with a block of ice usually four feet high, three feet deep and two feet deep. The temperature of the ice is approximately 18 to 20 de grees fahrenheit below zero and the working enviornment is around 26 degrees. The price of these beautiful creations will send a chill up any one's spine costing $100 for sim ple block letters and numbers to $200 or more for more complex sculptures. Meeks said he begins with a chainsaw to get rid of the excess ice and then constructs the details with tools resembling wood chip- pers. These tools are usually handcrafted, razor sharp and specifically designed for ice carv ing. Ideas for his creations usually come from the people placing the order and Meeks said he can do almost any design, "The most difficult sculptures are faces," he said. "I have seen them very rarely and only the master carvers do those." Most of the sculptures for the office of the president, the Board of Regents and the Chancellor's officehave been everything from a fighter jet to reindeers and a sled. "My most accomplished piece is an eagle 1 carved for a competi tion held at a culinary art show at the Messina Hof Winery in con junction with Spring Festival '91," he sai, "I won Best of Show for that piece." Meeks will carve a crawfish and a gig 'em thumb for an up coming luncheon that university President William H. Mobley will host for the L.S.U. game. Just as the chefs took Meeks under their wings to teach him this craft, so has he taken an inter est in a young chef at A&M to pass it on. Carlos Melgoza, from Mexico City and also a chef for the MSC Food Services, is fascinated with the art of ice sculpting much like Meeks was as a young chef. Melgoza began his career as a mechanical engineer and for vari ous reasons ended up learning culinary art techniques at the Hol iday Inn in Arlington. "I have been working with (Meeks) for five years and watch ing him has made me interested," he said. Both men agree that having a tangible result people can see and admire is a great part of ice sculpt ing. "It is a satisfaction you can not get anywhere else," Meeks said. SONY BOSTON AC YAMAHA KLIPSCH ALPINE ROCKFORD FOSGATE AN 0 AUDIO CD >VTJlL □c -D Car Stereo Alpine, Sony, Pioneer, JVC, Polk, Nakamichi, Boston Ac., Eclipse Car Alarms Cellular Phones Home Stereo Yamaha, Sony, Nakamichi, Carver, NAD, Mitsubishi, Polk, Boston Ac., Bose, Klipsch, Definitive Technology, M&K, NHT, Lux, Furniture CWD, Fineline Rockford Fosgate 12" $ 99 00 P air TV/VCR Sony, Mitsubishi JVC, Canon Camcorders Bio Screens Guaranteed Best Price Full Repair Shop AUDIOWO® 707 Texas Ave 696-5719 Free Delivery Professional Installs MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE NAKAMICHI DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY PIONEER