Ratatouille
This article is about the vegetable dish. For the animated film, see Ratatouille (film).
A ratatouille is a stewed vegetable stew in Provençal and Occitan cuisine and is one of the classic dishes there, such as the fish stew bouillabaisse or the strained fish soup à la Sétoise (the Sète way). Ratatouille is eaten hot or cold and is traditionally served as an appetizer or snack. It is sometimes served as an accompaniment to grilled or roast meat or fish, served without sauce.
The main ingredients of a ratatouille are eggplants, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and garlic, which are first cut into not too small pieces and then sautéed in olive oil and cooked with the lid closed. The individual vegetables are usually sautéed separately and then gradually added together. Fresh or dried herbs de Provence are often added; they can be replaced by fresh parsley. The peppers may be skinned, and the tomatoes should be skinned, before cooking. Olives are occasionally mixed in at the end of cooking, or a piece of air-dried ham or bacon is cooked from the beginning. Sometimes the pepper is omitted. In everyday French cooking, all the vegetables to be used are occasionally cut into pieces and cooked together with salt and pepper and a little oil in a pressure cooker without sautéing.
As Mediterranean vegetables and their preparation are now known throughout Europe, ratatouille is often prepared outside the south of France and is widely varied; the name ratatouille then refers to the method of preparation rather than a traditional composition. For example, a dash of red wine, some celery, dried tomatoes, limes and/or capers may be added instead of or in addition to the ingredients mentioned. In gastronomy and abroad, the vegetables are often stewed only briefly so that they still have bite; however, the typical ratatouille aroma does not develop.
Related dishes in Italian cuisine that also prescribe a set repertoire of vegetables when prepared traditionally are peperonata (based on onions, tomatoes and peppers) and caponata (usually based on onions, tomatoes, eggplant, celery and capers). A well-known Spanish version is the pisto.
Ratatouille
Variety: Ratatouille with dried tomatoes and buckwheat.
History
Ratatouille is said to have originally been a purely local dish from the Nice area, which became popular beyond the region in the 20th century. Around 1930, the recipe is said to have been printed for the first time. The name ratatouille had been used in France since the 18th century for simple stews, derived from the verb touiller (to stir). It is possible that the Provençal word rata (simple food, porridge, poor man's food) is included in the name.
Heyraud, the author of La Cuisine à Nice, who is said to have been one of the first to publish the recipe, described ratatouille as a ragout of aubergines, tomatoes, courgettes and peppers. In addition to the name ratatouille, it was also known as sauté à la niçoise and, particularly in Nîmes, as bourbouillade.
Popular Culture
In pop culture, the dish was given a prominent role in the movie Ratatouille, in which a Norway rat cooks the dish for a restaurant critic.
