Ratatouille Is a Side Dish with Soul

Ratatouille, the simplest of soul foods 

Why do we cook? When does it have more meaning than getting dinner on the table, when does it provide nourishment not only for the body but for the soul? This coming weekend will be my first Mother's Day. Cooking and motherhood are entwined in my mind. My mom is an excellent cook, and she taught my brother, sister and me the importance of eating well, of food as tradition, of food as an expression of love and care. When mothers cook, so often there is much more going on than just making a meal.

I was thinking about all of this yesterday morning as I made ratatouille. I've read much about this rustic French dish. How it can be sublimely aromatic and warming, the flavour of each vegetable enhancing without overshadowing the others, or it can become soupy and mushy, the vegetables indistinguishable from one another. Chefs call for the cooking of the vegetables in separate pans to retain their individual flavour, folding them together only at the very end. 

The recipe I share here is far more efficient than that, offering the type of ingenuity that only a mother who has neither the time nor inclination to wash 10 different pans can create. Here you layer the ingredients in one dish so they retain their integrity while being infused with flavour from garlic, spices and herbs. It is the result of generations of French mothers honing and passing down their secrets for coaxing deliciousness out of humble ingredients. It is a dish that makes use of bumper crops from the kitchen garden, that has an inherent savouriness that requires only crusty bread, maybe a poached egg on top. It is about nourishment, health, frugality and transforming vegetables into a dish with meaning and soul. It is about what mothers do in so many ways without us ever realizing.  

Ratatouille 

Prep Time: 15 min. Total Time: 1 hr. 15 min. Serves: 4

*adapted from "The Country Cooking of France" by Anne Willan

2 small eggplants, thinly sliced into rounds

2 zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

2 to 3 generous pinches salt

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

2 small leeks, washed and sliced

2 shallots, diced

salt and pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced 

1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed

pinch red chili flakes

4 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced

2 medium red bell peppers, seeded and sliced

bouquet garni (3 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves, handful parsley)

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Spread eggplant and zucchini slices onto trays, sprinkle with salt and allow to sit for 30 min. to draw out moisture. Rinse, drain and dry on paper towels.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pot and sauté leek and shallots (season with salt and pepper) on medium heat until softened, approx. 5 to 7 min. Remove pot from heat. In a small bowl, mix garlic with coriander, chili flakes and a pinch each of salt and pepper.

Layer eggplant, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes in pot, sprinkling garlic mixture between each layer. Place bouquet garni in middle of pot, pushing into layers. Drizzle with remaining olive oil.

Return pot to heat, cover and gently simmer on medium low for approx. 30 min., stirring toward the end of cooking. If there is too much liquid, remove lid and allow to simmer for approx. 10 to 15 min. to reduce. Remove bouquet garni, adjust seasoning as necessary and sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve.