Hi, I’m Ruben – a philosopher, food wizard, conlang creator, and aspiring writer. I explore the spaces where thought, language, nature, and craft meet. Whether I’m developing a fantasy language, writing about mind and body, fermenting a new recipe, blending botanical perfumes, or when I was building my tiny house, I try to live creatively and with care. This website brings together the different threads of my work and life – as a portfolio, a journal, and an invitation to connect.
The world intrigues me, and my explorations of it led me to do philosophy. My thinking develops from and expresses this curiosity towards and engagement with the world and the many puzzles it presents us with.
At Leiden University, I did both my BA and MA in Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives.
I also enjoy sharing this curiosity with others; to think and build ideas together. For that reason, I decided to do another masters in education.
Some call me a cook, some a chef, and some a food wizard -- since there is a magic in cooking.
My passion for cooking flowered when I became vegan at the age of seventeen, and started to explore new foods and new ways of cooking.
Since then, I have been able to refine my skills through running a restaurant and worked as food wizard for SSL, while also cooking as a volunteer for different projects.
Now I share some of my own recipes here.
I’m not a published author yet, but words have always been central to how I create and connect. Some of that I will share here: reflections, essays, and notes on ideas that may one day become books.
I also share the ongoing development of Aethos: a constructed language that combines my love of philosophy, fantasy, and creation.
I plan to weave this language into my fantasy writings. Thus far, it already inspired the names for the perfumes I am planning to develop.
When I was nineteen, I designed and build my own tiny house -- with plenty of help from family and friends. Here you can learn more about that project, through blog posts and photos.
For a long time, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of perfumes that truly capture the scents of nature: the mossy quiet of a pine forest, the warmth of sunlit sand, the freshness of summer rain. I could never quite find what I was looking for: something subtle, botanical, and alive.
So I decided to craft them myself. I’m teaching myself to blend natural essences into compositions that feel like little worlds in a bottle; earthy, evocative, and thoughtful -- made of earth and air.
Hi, I’m Ruben – a philosopher, food wizard, conlang creator, and aspiring writer. I explore the spaces where thought, language, nature, and craft meet. Whether I’m developing a fantasy language, writing about mind and body, fermenting a new recipe, blending botanical perfumes, or when I was building my tiny house, I try to live creatively and with care. This website brings together the different threads of my work and life – as a portfolio, a journal, and an invitation to connect.
