About Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne
I have been working in olive oil for over two decades, based in California but traveling the olive oil world. My consulting work covers olive oil “from dirt to dinner,” ranging from advising on the selection of olive cultivars for new orchards, to olive oil evaluation and brand development, to culinary application. I also work as an olive oil advocate through various non-profit activities. On that front, I am the director of Extra Virgin Alliance (EVA), the specialty section of the North American Olive Oil Association. EVA’s aim is to foster appreciation of this wonderful food by telling the stories of exceptional extra virgin olive oils and the people who make them.
It has been my honor to judge for numerous olive oil competitions at home and abroad, including Athena International, Good Food Awards, Olive Japan, California Olive Oil Council, Australian International, Los Angeles International and others. I served as chair for Napa Valley and California State Fair, developing their protocols and procedures.
Writing about olive oil for all manner of publications is another favorite activity (detail below). In 2014 I wrote a pocket olive oil reference called Olive Oil: A Field Guide (AOCS Press), designed to be a quick reference for retail staff, olive oil buyers and passionate consumers. Since the first edition sold out years ago, a new version of the Field Guide is in the works!
The Back Story
The first thing most people ask when they find out I work as an olive oil consultant is, “How did you end up doing that?” A very reasonable question (the more pointed version, of course, is “Why did you end up doing that?” but that is for another day).
It would be nice to claim Mediterranean heritage and a childhood dripping with olive oil, but sadly I cannot. My mother is a great cook, and used olive oil for cooking Italian food, but it was mostly “spaghetti and meatballs” and salad dressing back then. Although the family heritage is Ukrainian and Austrian—hardly a wellspring of olive oil—there is a Mediterranean hookup; my sister has lived in Italy for over four decades. The olive oil connection goes back forty-plus years to a stay with my sister in the suburbs of Rome. It was there that the importance of olive oil as a flavoring—as a condiment—not just as a cooking medium or salad dressing ingredient became clear. I learned that putting olive oil on, well, almost anything, made it taste better. That sensibility came back to the States with me, and things have never been the same since.
Writing, industry and academic stuff
My work with olive oil (and yes, this is my day job) began with a position at the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), Sonoma County. Although initially hired to work in the field of consumer education on reducing pesticide usage (I’m proud of the CDPR IPM innovator award we won with that program) I quickly gravitated to working on olive oil research and outreach. Some of the writing work from the UC days includes two chapters of the Organic Olive Production Manual from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications, and several research papers in the field of olive oil production, processing and evaluation.
As the originating editor and staff writer for the UCCE’s First Press: Newsletter of Olive Oil Production and Evaluation, producing concise, readable technical information for growers and producers was the objective. Numerous educational handouts, presentations and posters on olive pest management, olive cultural practices and sensory evaluation of olive oil produced with my involvement during that period are available on the olive publications page of the UCCE Sonoma County. My work as a collaborator with the university continued with an article about sensory analysis of olive oil in California Agriculture magazine (Jan–Mar 2011).
Other olive-related writing work includes articles for CalMatters, Mercacei, Olivatessen, Olivo e Olio, Hobby Farms, European Supermarket Magazine, Edible Silicon Valley, Olive Oil Times and Zester Daily. A chapter for the book Olive Oil Sensory Science and an olive oil training manual for the Culinary Institute of America, as well as various brochures and informational pieces for sundry clients are part of the portfolio. I also do behind-the-scenes support work with media to ensure accuracy in olive oil reporting.
Tasting and teaching
In 2003, passing the admissions test allowed me to join the UCCE/California Olive Oil Council Taste Panel. I was one of the members of the UC Davis panel the entire time it was in operation, and still taste with an unofficial panel that focuses on education and research.
I currently do workshops and classes in all aspects of olive oil for retailers, consumers and producers. I have taught at Olive Oil Sommelier School of Japan, California State Fair, Culinary Institute of America, Paso Robles Olive Festival, Olive Japan seminars, Copia Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, UC Davis Olive Center, New York International Olive Oil Competition Seminar, International Olive Oil School (online), UC Davis Extension, UCCE and for numerous private clients. I also taught a 4-week in-depth course “Olive Oil Production, Processing and Evaluation” at Santa Rosa Junior College.
With EVA and in partnership with other entities, I have organized and participated in numerous olive oil tasting workshops, ranging from educational luncheons to multi-day courses on olive oil tasting for the trade such as the Olive Oil Evaluation Course with the Institute of Agrifood Research & Technology (IRTA) in Catalonia.
Conferences and organizations
I attend conferences, trade shows and other events to do presentations, demos and workshops. Olive oil tastings have showcased California and international olive oils at the World Olive Oil Expo (Madrid), Mediterranean Marketplace (Rome), the Yale Symposium on Olive Oil and Health (Delphi and Madrid), Biofach (Nuremberg), Culinary Institute of America (Copia, Greystone and Hyde Park), the Specialty Food Association (New York) and elsewhere. It has been a privilege to present at conferences and events in the US and abroad for entities including Alícia Foundation (Catalonia), Greek Producers’ Association ELP3 (University of Athens), Australian Olive Association (New South Wales and Tasmania), Les Dames d’ Escoffier (Newport), Association Tre-E (Beyond Extra Virgin conferences) and American Oil Chemists’ Society (Orlando) focusing on olive oil sensory attributes, communication, marketing and quality.