This week I decided to do some cooking to go with my film. I recently bought Rachel Khoo's second book 'Little French Kitchen' and found that it contained a recipe for a French 'tian', the dish actually featured in Ratatouille which apparently isn't a real ratatouille at all! For a proper ratatouille you are meant to cook the vegetables separately before combining them, whereas for a tian you arrange the vegetable slices and bake them all at once. Anyway from the first time I saw this film I fell in love with the dish as it looks divine, so here is my attempt at a 'tian provençal'.
For five people I used an aubergine, a courgette and around 6 plum tomatoes. I cut them into thin slices using a mandolin and the slicing attachment on the food processor.
Thinly chop the vegetables |
All that's left to do is arrange the sliced vegetables on top. I decided to arrange them in a repeating, circular pattern, as in the recipe.
Arrange the vegetables |
Ready for the oven |
The finished tian |
Aside from the excellent food the characters are loveable too and the plot is not only funny but really captures the imagination. When you combine Pixar and Disney with food you really do end up with a match made in heaven.
My overall rating for this film is 4/5 - I really do love this film
I would give this film a 4/5 for seriousness (where 1 is serious and 5 is lighthearted) as it is after all an animated film centering around a rat who can cook. However, I do love the fundamental message of the film which is that anyone can cook.
Since food features a lot in this film, from soups to omelettes and of course, the title dish, ratatouille, I am going to give this film a 4/5 on the foodie front.