Ratatouille

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This article is about a vegetable dish. For the film, see Ratatouille (film).

Ratatouille is a traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish which can be served as a meal on its own (accompanied by rice, potatoes, or simply French bread), or as a side dish. Tomatoes are a key ingredient, with onions, zucchini (courgettes), eggplant (aubergine), bell peppers, a little herbs de provence, and sometimes basil. All the ingredients are sautéed in olive oil. Adding plenty of fresh coriander adds much flavor to the dish.

The name of the dish appears to derive from the French touiller, to stir, although the root of the first element "rat-" slang from the French Army meaning chunky stew. The word ratatouille has also come to be used in non-culinary contexts in English to refer to a (generally colourful) mixture of any kind.

There is a Maltese version of ratatouille called “kapunata”, which is very similar to its French counterpart. Kapunata is made with tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant, and garlic, and goes well with grilled fish. A comparable Spanish dish is called "pisto".

[edit] Mentions in popular culture

The dish was mentioned in the last episode, "Basil the Rat" of the famous BBC comedy series Fawlty Towers. Manuel's pet rat, "Basil", escapes from his cage on the very day that the public health inspector arrives, and Polly says to him (when Manuel is horrified because he thinks that Basil is lost and screams) that the cook puts basil in the ratatouille. Obviously, Manuel misinterprets this, and Sybil explains with the excuse that Manuel is from Barcelona.

The dish was also mentioned in the episode "Go Bulldogs" of season 7 of the show Gilmore Girls by the character Sookie St. James, as she was preparing it.