BENICIA, Calif. –
Han Solo may be a handsome guy. But “Pan Solo” is a piece of bread.
This is how a San Francisco Bay Area bakery dubbed its 6ft (1.8m) bread sculpture of the ‘Star Wars’ character as he appeared after being frozen in carbonite in “The Empire Strikes Back”.
Hannalee Pervan and her mother, Catherine Pervan, co-owners of One House Bakery in Benicia, California, spent weeks molding, baking and assembling the life-size sculpture using wood and two types of dough, including one type of dough yeast-free with a higher sugar content that will last longer.
Both worked nights after the day’s business was done. Carefully crafted details show Han Solo’s anguished face and outstretched hands reaching out.
Hannalee said she might be a little obsessed.
“Mom made me quit it because I was obsessed with lips,” Hannalee Pervan told The New York Times. “She was like, ‘You have to go.'”
A detailed view of a sculpture of the “Star Wars” character Han Solo frozen in carbonite made entirely of bread is displayed at the One House Bakery in Benicia, Calif., Oct. 16, 2022. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)Pan Solo’s creation was particularly significant, she told the newspaper, because she contracted COVID-19 in January 2021 and lost much of her senses of smell and taste.
“So finding joy in another part of food is really important,” she said.
The sculpture is now on display outside the bakery, located about a half-hour drive north of San Francisco.
Pan Solo is the bakery’s entry to Benicia town center’s annual main street scarecrow contest. The public will be able to vote for their favorites among more than twenty creations presented by local companies.
The Pervans, who are huge sci-fi and fantasy fans, released another “Star Wars” themed creation in 2020 featuring the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda.
Unfortunately, Pan Solo won’t last forever. The dough will end up being composted, not eaten.
So, as a wise Jedi might warn: Don’t use the forks, Luke.