Ray Duey, CEC, on Winning Food Network Challenge Team
Fruit carving class at the Naval Facility in Great Lakes, Illinois, May 23rd, 2008
Vegetable and fruit carving article from The New York Times May 14th, 2008
Fruit and vegetable carving article in the Fresno Bee, June 6th, 2007
The Freshest Cut - Spring 2006
September 2004 fruit and vegetable carving cover shot for Catersource Magazine.
Fruit and vegetable carving news from The National Restaurant Show in Chicago, May 22nd, 2005
Ray Duey, CEC, on Winning Food Network Challenge Team
Duey Joins James Parker for a Fruit-and-Vegetable Sculpture Competition Rematch Airing May 18 on the Food Network
St. Augustine, Fla., May 19, 2008 - Ray Duey, CEC, owner, Chef Ray Presents, Woodbridge, Calif., joined James Parker, owner, Veggy Art, Chantilly, Va., in the Food Network Challenge, "The Rematch: Fantasy Fruit Sculpture," which aired May 18. Parker was named champion and Duey, who worked as his assistant on the challenge, won a gold medal.
The Food Network Challenge features four contestants as they battle it out for a gold medal and $10,000 cash prize. Competitors and their assistants have a few hours to prove their skill and present their final creation to a panel of judges. On the original show, "Fantasy Fruit Sculptures," which aired September 2, 2007, contestants raced to transform more than 100 pounds of fruit and vegetables into towering sculptures in Hawaii.
In the rematch, the same competitors returned with the challenge to create "tropical treasures," fruit-and-vegetable sculptures. Douglas St. Souver, a former student of Duey's, was the reigning champion. The show was filmed in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on February 19.
Parker and Duey's winning sculpture, "Treasures Lost, Paradise Found," towered over six feet tall. The immaculate sculpture portrayed the bottom of the sea with a treasure chest and shipwrecked vessel on shore. Thai carved melons were stacked high and a sun sculpture sat on top. On the backside, a working waterfall cascaded down and there were tropical birds, a papaya snake and various tropical flowers, made of candy cane beets, rutabagas, turnips, chili peppers and rhubarb.
"Once the clock expired there was a temporary sigh of relief, but the real sense of finality was when they declared the winner," Duey says.
Duey, a certified executive chef and member of ACF California Capital Chefs Association, has spent the last two decades developing his skill and creating fruit-and-vegetable carvings for weddings, events, classes and seminars. In 2004, he opened Chef Ray Presents, where he teaches the specialized art form to a wide variety of professionals across the United States. Duey has received numerous awards in national and international competitions. In addition, he is also corporate executive chef at Buffet Euro, San Francisco, Calif. For more information visit, www.chefgarnish.com.
"The Rematch: Fantasy Fruit Sculpture" Food Network Challenge is now airing on the Food Network. Visit www.foodnetwork.com for air times.
The American Culinary Federation, Inc., established in 1929, is the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America. With 20,000 members spanning more than 230 chapters nationwide, ACF is the culinary leader in offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and accreditation. In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States. ACF is home to ACF Culinary Team USA, the official representative for the United States in major international culinary competitions, and also holds the presidium for the World Association of Chefs Societies, the largest international network of chef associations with more than 8 million members globally. For more information, please visit www.acfchefs.org.
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Food network chef at Culinary School
By SUSAN M. KOERNER
TSC Public Affairs
A familiar face from the Food Network was one of the presenters at the Culinary Specialists ‘A’ School at Great Lakes third Chicagoland Food Safety and Management Certification symposium held this week.
Chef Ray Duey, is noted for working magic on fruits and vegetables, carving works of art that have earned him world renown. He brought his message of put¬ting the wow factor in food, a necessary ingredient, he feels, for boosting morale.
Duey, who has given pre-sentations to military culi¬nary specialists including the Coast Guard Academy and on board Navy ships, says that food is the most important commodity on board.
“If you are at sea without fuel or bullets, then you can figure out a way to work around it, but if you are with¬out food, nobody feels like doing their job,” he said.
The humble chef says he enjoys passing his expertise on to his military colleagues.
“The military is the reason I am a free person, it should be my obligation to give back to the people that protect my freedom, it’s an¬other way to make their lives a little better and for me to get a better appreciation of what they do.”
He also says he appreciates how much more a culi¬nary specialist deals with as an active duty Sailor, such as being a crewmember in addi¬tion to preparing food.
“They have so much more to deal with than a chef in the civilian world, like a man overboard drill in the middle of the night,” he said.
Duey says he wants to alter his audiences thinking regarding food preparation, by being aware of other cul¬tures and influences. He en¬courages them to take time during port visits to look for local flavors they may be able to bring back to the ship to in¬corporate in their meals.
Preparing meals for as many as 5,000 hungry Sailors is also becoming more in de¬mand in the civilian world, according to Duey. He also cites training and certification in software, food safety and inventory control as
highly marketable skills.
“Military feeding is large scale feeding, it is becoming more and more in demand in the civilian world: resorts, ho¬tels, conferences, people are looking for someone that not only read how to feed 5,000 but have actually done it. The military gives you that oppor-tunity to have that experience that most culinary students are lacking.”
Duey also encourages Sailors to take advantage of every opportunity to learn more about their craft at events such as the Symposium, which offers cer-tification in various profes¬sional areas. Active duty members were able to take advantage of the course through the Navy COOL pro¬gram.
“One thing I want them to know is that these Sailors are working for the government, and in return, the govern¬ment is offering them oppor¬tunities to learn, they should seize every opportunity they can,” he said.
Duey is appearing this week on the Food Network Challenge, “Fantasy Fruit Sculpture.”
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What a cut up
Artist turns fruits and vegetables into art with a turn of a knife.
By Joan Obra / The Fresno Bee
06/06/07 04:28:39
Forget what they say about not playing with food -- or knives. Ray Duey does both, and the results are unexpected. A turnip turns into a daisy, an eggplant into a leaf and an avocado into a hand grenade.
Duey, an acclaimed produce carver from Torrance, recently showed off some of his tricks at Fresno State. It's his second class for local members of the American Culinary Federation Chefs Association. The first was so popular, the crowd clamored for more, says Bruce Staebler, president of the association's San Joaquin chapter.
There's a reason these folks want to carve flowers from food, and it's not just the cool factor. This Far Eastern culinary art is spreading from cruise ships to more hotels, country clubs and restaurants. Money is to be made in this trend, and accomplished carvers such as Duey can make $250,000 a year. The typical salary, he says, is between $40,000 and $70,000.
Duey draws more business by challenging himself with different carvings, such as a butterfly from a grape. He also pays attention to pop culture.
"Of all the carvings that you should master this year, you should have 'Shrek' down to a science," he says to his class. "You should have 'Pirates of the Caribbean' down to a sci- ence. You should have 'Spider-Man' down to a science."
If the professional cooks in Duey's class heed his advice, local diners may see more edible art on their plates.
But Duey also has a message for home cooks: Some of these carvings, including the turnip daisy and eggplant leaves, are easy enough for them to try. See for yourself in this story on fresnobee.com. You'll find a video of Duey carving and another one of him teaching.
Both videos show techniques that differ from chopping, mincing and dicing. Instead, carving requires making curved cuts with small, sharp tools. Check them out at chefgarnish.com, Duey's Web site. In the products section, there are u-and-v cutters (that make u-and-v shapes) and Thai-style flexible knives. Both help save the wrists from fatigue, Duey says.
He also offers tips for buying produce. Any fruit and vegetable can be carved, as long as it's firm.
"You want them to have no give to them at all," he says. For example, if a melon is ripe enough to have an aroma, it's too soft to carve.
If you buy some tools and create something beautiful, Duey even has advice for preserving your handiwork. Spray it with original PAM cooking spray. It will prevent carvings from drying out or turning cloudy when refrigerated.
Covered with a wet paper towel and plastic wrap, a melon carving sprayed with PAM can keep in the refrigerator about a week -- enough time for you to practice a more complex piece.
"Once you've mastered the technique and you are not afraid," Duey says, "you can take it to the next level."
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The wow factor: food as fashion
May 22, 2005
Chef Ray Duey of Torrance, Calif., used apples, melons and other fruits as his medium to work some magic for a crowd of mesmerized on-lookers at the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, held at Chicago's McCormick Place May 21-25.
He took one green apple, sliced some layers and arranged the pieces to first resemble a butterfly, and then -- just minutes later -- a swan.
"Why should you pay for a florist when your food can speak for itself?" he asked. Duey, the corporate executive chef for Buffet Euro, has been practicing food art for years.
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