Ratatouille is very specifically from the Nice area of Provence in Southern France. Taken simply, it is a stew of Mediterranean vegetables, seasoned and cooked slowly with olive oil. The most typical ingredients are aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes and bell peppers. This collection of vegetables reads like a sequential list of imported foods, and enables us to place this recipe no older than the 16th Century, which is when aubergines arrived in Europe from India. Making the dish may have occurred some time later as aubergines were initially thought to be poisonous, and were used as ornaments rather than food. Aubergine leaves contain solanine, 6mg of which is fatal. But the vegetable is quite safe.
Chopping up and stirring (‘touiller‘) stuff and calling it ‘ratatouille’ was going on in the 18th Century when Nice was actually part of Italy. ‘Nizza’ did not become ‘Nice’ until the 1860 Treaty of Turin, and it took until 1930 for someone to write down the modern recipe for ratatouille Niçoise.
Interestingly, the French army in World War 1 used to march on a bellyful of ‘rata,’ which is a hash of vegetables, potatoes and pork. I can’t work out if this comes from the word ratatouille, or from ‘rations.’
Of course, with something as simple as chopped up, stewed vegetables, versions of ratatouille exist all over the place. The Sicilians make caponata, which has a bit more going on that a ratatouille Niçoise. The Spanish pisto is identical to ratatouille Niçoise. The Greeks add potatoes, stick it in the oven and call it ‘briami.’
The recipe for ratatouille Niçoise given here is from Let’s Eat France!, and includes the key notion of gilding the vegetables separately before the low, slow step. The recipe is adapted with additional notes from Alexis Gabriel Aïnouz (Alex French Guy Cooking).
Ratatouille Niçoise
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Loading...Ingredients
- 4 aubergines, diced 1 inc
- 5 courgettes, diced 1 inc
- 3 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow), seeded and diced 1 inch
- 5 large tomatoes, blanched, peeled and chopped; or 250g canned, chopped tomatoes (the canned option gives a richer dish)
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced (see notes)
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- A few sprigs basil, leaves torn and stalks chopped
- 1 sprig thyme, chopped
- 150 mL olive oil
- Salt
Instructions
In a large flameproof casserole dish, heat a drizzle of olive oil, add half the garlic, and cook the onions until lightly browned.
In separate pots, repeat these steps with the diced zucchini, eggplant, and bell peppers, adding a few tablespoons of water. The vegetables should be allowed to soften over medium heat until glided, but without overbrowning them.
Transfer all the vegetables to the a large, deep saute pan and add the tomatoes, the remaining garlic, the basil stalks, and the thyme sprigs. Season with salt, and simmer, uncovered, over low heat for at least 40 mins. Stir in the basil leaves right at the end and serve.
Notes
Either white onions or red onions will do
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