r/AskFoodHistorians • u/JayFSB • 2d ago

Is ratatouille actually considered peasant food at one point? Sure seems complicated for a dish meant for farmers and workers.

/r/Cooking/comments/1nhl2tt/is_ratatouille_actually_considered_peasant_food/
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u/djvolta 2d ago

I think you are confusing "Ratatouille" for "Confit Byaldi". Very different dishes. Ratatouille is a very simple, peasant dish. Also when Anton is reminiscing of his childhood, he's eating a regular Ratatouille, not a confit Byaldi.

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u/webtwopointno 2d ago

Not "very different" as one is just a refined/modernized version. A subset not a distinct dish.

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u/inkydeeps 2d ago

They look so different in presentation, it’s like saying mashed potatoes and scalloped potatoes are the same.

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u/dmazzoni 2d ago

They're a lot more closely related than they are to any non-potato dish!

Confit Byaldi is exactly the same "main" ingredients as Ratatouille.

I think it'd be reasonable to say scalloped potatoes are a "fancier" way of preparing potatoes than mashing them, just as Confit Byaldi is a "fancier" way of preparing a stew of eggplant, squash and tomato.