Ratatouille

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Ratatouille

Ratatouille (; French pronunciation: ) is a traditional French

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
Provençal

Provence

Provence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative regions of France of Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur....
stew

Stew

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy.Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, poultry, sausages and seafood....
ed vegetable

Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
dish, originating in Nice

Nice

Nice is a city in Southern France France located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 1,197,751 inhabitants in the 2007 estimate....
. The full name of the dish is ratatouille niçoise.

word ratatouille comes from Occitan

Occitan language

Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
ratatolha. It is also used in French (touiller, also means to toss food). Ratatouille originated in the area around present day Occitan Provença (French: Provence

Provence

Provence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative regions of France of Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur....
) & Niça (French: Nice

Nice

Catalan

Catalan can refer to:* Catalan people* Catalan language* Catalan Countries* Catalan wine* An inhabitant of Catalonia* Catalan_Ornithological_Institute...
and the Majorcan "tombet"Tumbet

Tumbet is a traditional vegetable dish from Mallorca. It is available at almost every local restaurant on the island.Tombet combines layers of sliced potatoes, aubergines and capsicum previously fried in olive oil....
are versions of the same dish.

touille is usually served as a side dish, but also may be served as a meal on its own (accompanied by rice or bread).

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Encyclopedia

Ratatouille (; French pronunciation: ) is a traditional French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
Provençal
Provence

Provence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative regions of France of Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur....
stew
Stew

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy.Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, poultry, sausages and seafood....
ed vegetable
Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
dish, originating in Nice
Nice

Nice is a city in Southern France France located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 1,197,751 inhabitants in the 2007 estimate....
. The full name of the dish is ratatouille niçoise.

Origin
The word ratatouille comes from Occitan
Occitan language

Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
ratatolha. It is also used in French (touiller, also means to toss food). Ratatouille originated in the area around present day Occitan Provença (French: Provence
Provence

Provence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative regions of France of Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur....
) & Niça (French: Nice
Nice

Nice is a city in Southern France France located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 1,197,751 inhabitants in the 2007 estimate....
, Occitan: Niça); the Catalan
Catalan

Catalan can refer to:* Catalan people* Catalan language* Catalan Countries* Catalan wine* An inhabitant of Catalonia* Catalan_Ornithological_Institute...
and the Majorcan "tombet"Tumbet

Tumbet is a traditional vegetable dish from Mallorca. It is available at almost every local restaurant on the island.Tombet combines layers of sliced potatoes, aubergines and capsicum previously fried in olive oil....
are versions of the same dish.

Present use
Ratatouille is usually served as a side dish, but also may be served as a meal on its own (accompanied by rice or bread). Tomato
Tomato

The Tomato is an herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, as are its close cousins Nicotiana, potatoes, aubergine , chilli peppers, and the poisonous Atropa belladonna....
es are a key ingredient, with garlic
Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
, onion
Onion

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
s, zucchini
Zucchini

Zucchini or courgette is a small summer squash. Along with some other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. The zucchini can be yellow, green or light green, and generally has a similar shape to a ridged cucumber, though a few cultivars are available that produce round or bottle-shaped fruit....
(courgettes), eggplant (aubergine
Aubergine

The eggplant, aubergine, or brinjal is a plant of the family Solanaceae and genus Solanum. It bears a fruit of the same name, commonly used as a vegetable in cooking....
), bell pepper
Bell pepper

Bell pepper is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, green and orange....
s (poivron), marjoram and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence
Herbes de Provence

Herbes de Provence is a mixture of dried herbs from Provence invented in the 1970s.The mixture typically contains rosemary, marjoram, basil, bay leaf, thyme, and sometimes lavender flowers and other herbs....
. There is much debate on how to make a traditional ratatouille. One method is to simply saute all of the vegetables together. Others, including Julia Child
Julia Child

Julia Child was an American chef, author and television personality, who introduced French cuisine and cooking techniques to the American mainstream, through her many cookbooks and television programs....
, insist on a layering approach, where the eggplant and the courgettes are sauteed separately, while the tomatoes, onion, garlic and bell peppers are made into a sauce. The ratatouille is then layered in a casserole – eggplant, courgettes, tomato/pepper mixture – then baked in an oven.

When ratatouille is used as a filling for savory crepe
Crêpe

A cr?pe is a type of very thin, cooked pancake usually made from wheat flour. The word, like the pancake itself, is of France origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled." While cr?pes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is nowadays widespread in France and it is considered...
s or to fill an omelette
Omelette

An omelette or omelet is a preparation of beaten Egg cooked with butter or Cooking oil in a frying pan, usually folded around a filling such as cheese, vegetables, meat , or some combination of the above....
, the pieces are sometimes cut smaller than in the illustration. Also, unnecessary moisture is reduced by straining the liquid with a colander
Colander

A colander is a type of sieve, used in cooking for separating liquids and solids. It is much like a strainer. It is conventionally made of a light metal, such as aluminium or thinly rolled stainless steel, although it is not uncommon for it to be made of plastic....
into a bowl, reducing
Reduction (cooking)

In cooking, reduction is the process of thickening or intensifying the flavor of a liquid mixture such as a soup, sauce, wine, or juice by evaporation....
it in a hot pan, then adding one or two tablespoon
Tablespoon

A tablespoon is a type of large spoon usually used for serving. A tablespoonful, an amount equal to the capacity of one tablespoon, is commonly used as a unit of measurement of volume used in Cooking weights and measures ....
s of reduced liquid back into the vegetables.

Filled eggplant dishes exist in Sicilian, Maltese, Greek, Venetian and Dalmatian/Croatian cuisine, but the latter include salted sardines or anchovies. There is a similar Spanish
Spanish cuisine

Spanish cuisine consists of a variety of dishes which stem from differences in geography, culture and climate. It is heavily influenced by seafood available from the waters that surround the country, and reflects the country's deep maritime roots....
dish, pisto manchego
Pisto

Pisto is the name of a Spanish dish made of tomatoes, onions, eggplant or Zucchinis, green and red Capsicums and olive oil. It is similar to ratatouille and is usually served warm to accompany a dish or with a fried egg and bread....
.

American
American cuisine

American cuisine can refer to the cuisine of several regions:*Latin American cuisine*North American cuisine*cuisine of the United States...
chef Thomas Keller
Thomas Keller

Thomas Keller is an United States chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark restaurant, French Laundry in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996 and the Best Chef in America in 1997, and the restaurant is a perennial wi...
invented a contemporary variation, confit byaldi
Confit byaldi

French chef Michel Gu?rard invented a "Confit Bayaldi" as early as 1976, replacing ratatouille's traditional rough-cut vegetables with thinly sliced rounds....
, for the 2007 animated film Ratatouille

Ratatouille (film)

Ratatouille is a 2007 computer-animated film produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was the eighth movie produced by Pixar, and was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005....
.

Ratatouille

Origin

Present use

External links