Where Does The Dish Ratatouille Come From?

Ratatouille comes from Provence, a southeastern region of France. There are lots of versions of ratatouille including pies, quiches and soups. Its name derives from the French 'touiller', which means 'to stir'.

Despite the fact that ratatouille is the typical provencal dish, it is not listed in the 19th century cookbook, 'La cuisiniere Provencale' (J.B.Reboul), which lists 1, 123 recipes from Provence. It is a modern invention, and could not occur until tomato came from the New World.

It is claimed that ratatouille has a connection with a fried vegetable called 'samfaina' from Catalonia, dated back to when Catalona was linked politically to Provence.

Throughout the Mediterranean, ratatouille is a name which is used to describe a local vegetable ragoft.

There is also a Maltese version of rataouille. This is called 'kapunata' and consists of garlic, aubergines, peppers (green) and tomatoes and goes very well with fish.