Ratatouille

• 1. Introduction

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  Ratatouille is the stewed summer vegetable dish of Provence in southern France, and it looks far older than it really is. A recognizable modern version of the recipe does not appear in print until 1930. For a dish that feels like part of the landscape, that is a surprisingly late arrival. So where did its odd name come from? How did a pot of southern French vegetables come to depend on plants that crossed the ocean from the Americas? And what do cooks mean when they argue over the right way to make it?

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• 2. A Word for Stirring

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  In the Occitan language of the south, the dish's name was ratatolha. The French verbs ratouiller and tatouiller are close relatives. All of them are expressive forms of touiller, which means to stir or to toss. The name began as a description of motion in a pot.

  In the early 19th century, the word did not yet name a vegetable dish at all. It described a coarse stew or a mixed dish of no particular refinement, and it sometimes carried a pejorative edge. Early printed references use it for rustic mixtures in general. The name therefore predates the standardized recipe that now bears it.

  That everyday word was waiting for ingredients, and several of the most important ones had barely been accepted at the French table.

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• 3. Newcomers to the Pan

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  Tomatoes, peppers and squash reached France after the 16th century, following European contact with the Americas. Accepting them as food took a long time. They were not widely eaten until the 18th and 19th centuries.

  Aubergine arrived by a different and earlier route. It came through Mediterranean and Islamic culinary influence, and it became established in southern France before spreading northward.

  Once all these vegetables were common in Provence, cooks combined them with olive oil, onions, garlic and local herbs. The resulting stews resembled the modern dish, though they were not yet a fixed recipe.

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• 4. Surplus Summer

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  Ratatouille niçoise, as the dish is sometimes called, grew out of rural Provençal cooking. Summer produced more vegetables than a household could eat fresh, and stewing them together was a practical way to use the surplus. The method is a stew or sauté in olive oil.

  The usual cast is tomatoes, onions, garlic, courgettes, aubergines and bell pepper. Courgettes are known as zucchini in some countries, and aubergines as eggplants. Fresh herbs may include basil, marjoram or fennel. Dried ones may be thyme, bay leaves or a blend called herbes de Provence. Methods and cooking times vary considerably by region and by household.

  Earlier versions of the stew did not consistently include the combination of aubergines, tomatoes, courgettes and peppers that is now treated as standard.

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• 5. Nice on the Page

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  By the early 20th century, ratatouille was increasingly tied to the cooking of Nice. Regional cookery texts described different ways of making it. Some cooked the vegetables together from the start. Others sautéed them separately and combined them afterward.

  Major culinary reference works also included the dish during this period. Their entries helped establish it as a distinct Provençal specialty, and they carried its reputation beyond the region.

  In the middle of the 20th century, interest in Mediterranean cuisines grew outside France. Cookbooks written for English-speaking readers presented ratatouille as a symbol of southern French cooking. They stressed olive oil, ripe seasonal vegetables and simple preparation. Through these books, a regional peasant dish became a widely recognized part of French cuisine.

  Once the dish had a reputation, people began to argue about how it should be made.

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• 6. The Purists and the Pan

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  The Larousse Gastronomique, a major culinary reference work, states the strict view. It says: "according to the purists, the different vegetables should be cooked separately, then combined and cooked slowly together until they attain a smooth, creamy consistency."

  The food and drink writer Felicity Cloake took a more relaxed view in The Guardian in 2016. She observed that, given how recent the dish's origins are, there is a great variety of ways to prepare it.

  The Provençal pot was never the only version of this idea, and neighbouring regions made their own.

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• 7. A Family of Stews

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  Piperade comes from the south-west of France, bohémienne from Vaucluse, and chichoumeille from Languedoc. Tian is made in the south-east of the country.

  Across the border in Spain, pisto is the Castilian-Manchego version, samfaina belongs to Catalonia, and tombet to Majorca. Italy has ciambotta, caponata and peperonata. Greece has briám and tourloú. Turkey has şakşuka and türlü. Georgia has ajapsandali, Hungary has lecsó, Romania has ghiveci, and Morocco has zaalouk. The Philippines contributes pinakbet.

  Different parts of the Indian subcontinent have their own winter vegetable stews. Gujarat makes undhiyu, and Kerala makes avial with coconut and local spices. Bengal makes shukto.

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• 8. Haute Cuisine and the Screen

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  From the late 20th century, professional chefs began reworking ratatouille with refined techniques and modern presentation. One influential variation, created by Michel Guérard, is called confit byaldi. It arranges the vegetables in thin, carefully layered slices instead of stewing them. That look suited the aesthetics of contemporary haute cuisine.

  Confit byaldi and similar versions shaped later fine-dining adaptations and popular images of the dish. They differ greatly from the rustic preparation of Provençal home cooking.

  In 2007, Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios released a film called Ratatouille. It gave the dish its widest exposure yet, carrying the name to audiences around the world.

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