Richard Ruben uses French paradigm and hunger to cook and teach

Nation's Restaurant News, May 19, 2003 by Dina Berta

Richard Ruben's teaching career began when he started answering customers' questions about the dishes he was making. The semintive of New York started holding classes for customers of his catering and retail business in Sydney, Australia. Twelve years later the International Association of Culinary Professionals honored Ruben as the Cooking Teacher of the Year. The association gave its award of excellence to him during its annual conference in Montreal in April.

Ruben is an instructor at The Institute of Culinary Education, formerly the Peter Krump's Cooking School in New York City. Over the years he has maintained a catering business, working for private and corporate clients. He's also worked in restaurants and held posts as executive chef But the most rewarding career by far, says Ruben, has been teaching.

Students at ICE vie for seats in his popular Green Grocer class. Ruben takes students on treks into New York City's farmer markets, hoping to instill in them a passion for the ingredients they will use in cooking.

Title: instructor at The Institute of Culinary Education, New York, N.Y., private caterer and author

Birth date: Feb. 14,1961

Hometown: Atlanta and New York suburbs

Education: California Culinary Academy, San Francisco

Career highlights: traveling and cooking for a decade in Australia and Asia; writing "The Farmer's Market Cookbook," Lyons Press, 2000; appearing on local news stations in New York, NBC's Later Today and WOR Radio's Food Talk

How did the Green Grocer class come about?

When I started at the school, I started doing their technique. I'm French-trained and familiar with all that. No matter what food you want to make or world you want to re-create, the conversation is French. The French paradigm guides us through our creative process. Then the school also offers chefs the opportunity to present ideas for a class.

I'm obsessed with farmer's markets. The L.A. farmer's market in Santa Monica sends me into olfactory overload. Same with Paddy's Market in Sydney.

What are you trying to teach students on those trips?

When we go to the market, my mantra is "In the moment in the market."

What does that mean?

So many people go armed with shopping lists. Say you go to the market in late April, and tomatoes are a major ingredient on your list. You're not going to find them, and if you do, they are not going to be too spectacular. What I'm saying is let the market help shape what you're making. Allow yourself the freedom to be seduced by something and take it back with you.

You see people walking around buying the same tried items. Nothing unfamiliar. They're frightened to pick up something they've never seen before. Part of it is enjoying the leap of faith. All these wonderful things exist out there. Begin playing with it. Is it bittersweet? What if you boil it? Should you eat it raw?

When we go, there is no guarantee of what we'll make or what nature may bring. The only guarantee we have is hunger.

Hunger?

When I was a kid, hunger got me into the kitchen. My mom was not well. Relief workers came to help the family. They gave us chocolate chip cookies to keep us quiet. But I don't have a sweet tooth. I didn't have one at the age of 3.1 wanted burnt cheese. My first memory is standing in front of an open oven door, scrambling eggs with American cheese singles and Johnny Quest Commenting on what it 's like to work in a restaurant, Ruben says: "I was the worst restaurant chef ever seen. Culinay school prepares you for the conversation in the kitchen. It does not [totally] prepare you.

yelling at his dog on the TV in the background.

How did you decide to make a living as a chef?

I never really thought of it as making a living or not making a living. It was more of how do I go through life and like what I have to do every day? When I was in my mid-20s, I realized my conversations with people were [about] food. That's why I ended up seeking a job, a lifestyle, in the culinary world.

You worked in restaurants right after culinary school, even reaching the position of executive chef. Why didn't you continue with restaurants?

I was the worst restaurant chef ever seen. Culinary school prepares you for the conversation in the kitchen. It does not [totally] prepare you. Your own inner workings send you into one area or another in the industry. I got impatient doing the same thing over and over for months at a time. In hindsight, if I had been a patient middle-aged man, and not an impetuous young man, I would have done my time and worked my way through the ranks.

I liked catering, though, because of the variety. Every event, every facility, required a little finesse here, a little there - enough to keep my interest on a daily basis. I did parties from 12 to 50,000 guests. I did get my mettle tested.

You've been teaching at the institute for more than five years now. What do you like about teaching?

Primarily, I love the fact that I'm getting people excited to do what I'm most passionate about.

I love being able to raise the bar by giving people information about the food that they are buying. I love to have them know more about it. I think, for the industry, we have to be more genuine in what we represent. When we push the bar higher, there's a greater trade-off.