LA RATATOIULLE
Ratatouille is a traditional Provençal dish based on stewed vegetables. The full name of the dish, originally from Nice, is ratatouille niçoise.
The word ratatouille comes from the Occitan "ratatolha", similar to the French "touiller" which means "to stir". Originally it was a dish for poor farmers, prepared in summer with fresh vegetables. The original ratatouille niçoise did not contain aubergines, as they are not available at the same time of the year as the other vegetables; the original ingredients of traditional ratatouille are tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions and garlic.
French ratatouille can be served as a stand-alone dish (accompanied by rice, potatoes, or simple French bread), but more often it is served as a side dish.
The dish is clearly inspired by the Disney Pixar animated film Ratatouille (which plays on the assonance of the word with "rat", being the protagonist of the film Rémy, a mouse). To improve their knowledge of the kitchen during the production of the film, the director Brad Bird and the producer Brad Lewis spent many hours attending cooking classes in the French Laundry restaurant of Thomas Keller, the one who invented the recipe for the ratatouille variant presented in movie.
The word ratatouille comes from the Occitan "ratatolha", similar to the French "touiller" which means "to stir". Originally it was a dish for poor farmers, prepared in summer with fresh vegetables. The original ratatouille niçoise did not contain aubergines, as they are not available at the same time of the year as the other vegetables; the original ingredients of traditional ratatouille are tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions and garlic.
French ratatouille can be served as a stand-alone dish (accompanied by rice, potatoes, or simple French bread), but more often it is served as a side dish.
The dish is clearly inspired by the Disney Pixar animated film Ratatouille (which plays on the assonance of the word with "rat", being the protagonist of the film Rémy, a mouse). To improve their knowledge of the kitchen during the production of the film, the director Brad Bird and the producer Brad Lewis spent many hours attending cooking classes in the French Laundry restaurant of Thomas Keller, the one who invented the recipe for the ratatouille variant presented in movie.