From the book: AN OLIVE OIL TOUR OF FRANCE
Fabienne Roux is a lady who knows all about
tastes, flavors and the goodness of olive oil, an élaïologue
(elaïo for olive oil in Greece and logue for specialist) who has been in
the business for 22 years. Recognized for her expertise — she often
participates in national and international olive oil
competitions such as the New York International Olive Oil competition held in
April 2013.
Fabienne
feels strongly that much more can be done in France to develop awareness of
olive oil especially amongst
chefs, professional cooks, even the top professionals she feels need to be
trained on the culinary virtues of extra virgin olive oil. In 2012, she
created The French High School of Olive Oil Tasting where she shares her
passion, enthusiasm and knowledge with professionals and gastronomy lovers.
She
says: “I wanted a place for experimentation, discussion and defense of
the quality of olive oil.”
Particularly
interesting is her training of professional chefs, on the culinary aspects of
olive oil; Fabienne's approach does not strictly follow the
conventional pattern.
She says: “I don’t want to do it like a robot, like
a machine. I am looking for emotions. These chefs often buy good olive oil from
producers but they need to learn about aromatics, to be more emotional and
creative when using olive oil.”
How does she do it?
Without
discussing the origins, Fabienne and business partner Alexis Munoz expose their
trainees to several different oils, encouraging them to identify the odor for
themselves using their olfactory senses – their noses. And for that, Fabienne
has her own technique of using special sweets to prepare them for the olive oil
tasting experience.
“I use concentrated oils because chefs are constantly tasting, using their
mouths, I want them to first use their noses. If a chef thinks the oil is a basic one, I remove it
straight away. Most important he must ask himself what he can do
with the oil he tastes.
What’s
great, is their enthusiasm for this kind of approach; they can become so keen,
so excited, we often end up in the kitchen to prepare a dish. Only at the end do they discover the
origin of the oils they chose; these might be from Provence, from California
Italy or elsewhere. It might even be a bio olive oil but what’s important is
the dish they’re going to use it for. I don’t influence them,"
she enthuses.
"Olive
oil is the little sister of wine", observes Fabienne.
