The origin of the ratatouille is the South
Isn't a ratatouille good? With good seasonal products! A dish from the south, originally, but that we like to cook everywhere in France now. The word ratatouille would come from the Occitan "ratatolha" pronounced also ratatouio and would simply designate a stew and all that one put in it, often vegetables, and little meat because in the XVIIIth century, when the word appears, one eats little meat and rather vegetables. Ratatouille even became simply "rata", to designate the meal of the soldier, often a mixture of beans and potatoes, so nothing to do with ratatouille, but the idea of a quick mixture to cook all the same. There are other recipes in the world that are very similar to ratatouille, such as "la bohémienne" from Comtat-Venaissin, "samfaina catalane", "tumbet" from Majorca or the Italian "caponata".
ratatouille Photo par marco mayer/Shutterstock
The recipe for a ratatouille
Ingredients:
- 5 tomatoes
- 2 eggplants
- 2 onions
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 good size zucchini
- And with all this, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, garlic
The process:
- You wash the vegetables, You dice the eggplant and zucchini, you salt them to make them drain and then you wring them out carefully.
- You peel and slice the onions.
- You cut the peppers in 2, you seed them and you cut them then in big pieces.
- Then you wash the tomatoes, you peel them and you cut them in pieces.
- You peel and degerm the garlic, before chopping it finely.
- Then you put oil in a casserole and you will make return in the following order,
- first oil, to make sweat the onions with salt, you put the eggplants, the peppers, you salt a little, you leave to cook to soft fire 5 minutes,
- Then you add the zucchinis, the herbs and you finish with the tomatoes.
You cook on a low heat for 30 minutes.
Tips :
Some people add hard-boiled eggs or even a fried egg when serving. Don't worry if you have overdone it because it's even better when it's cooked again or even longer.
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