Auguste Gusteau claims... "Anyone can cook" ..
(Lewis, B. (producer); Bird, B (director); "Ratatouille" 2007 Walt Disney Studios)
... a great vote of confidence to all. Ratatouille is one of those great Disney films that you can watch multiple times with appeal to all ages. I took particular interest in the serving of the ratatouille dish to compare notes with Julia's recipe. On further investigation the magnificent stack of eggplant, zucchini and tomato that Linguini and Remy the rat serve to the restaurant critic, Anton Ego, is actually a dish referred to as Confit Byaldi.
Ratatouille originated from Provence and is often referred to as peasant food. Julia advises that a really good ratatouille involves cooking the individual elements separately before they are arranged in the casserole to partake of a brief communal simmer. Julia proudly claims that this recipe is the only one she could find where each vegetable retains its own shape and character.
After a frenzy session of slicing and chopping, the pre-salted eggplant and zucchini were sauteed in hot olive oil to brown slightly. Next the onions and peppers were slowly cooked until tender with a couple of cloves of garlic thrown in. This mix was covered in a tomato pulp and cooked until the tomato begun to render their juice.Using a fire proof casserole dish, layer the tomato mix, eggplant, zucchini and parsley and simmer on the stove top over low heat for about 20 minutes.
The completed dish did as Julia predicted - the vegetables maintained their shape and the kitchen was infused with the perfume of essence of Provence. It's a recipe well worth trying... and you don't even need a "little chef" to get a result that you would be happy to serve at Gusteau's restaurant.
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