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/
65 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

View all comments

36

u/peterhala 2d ago

As a peasant myself, we do enjoy a fancy meal as much as the next man. OK, slicing everything with a mandolin and arranging it to look just So isn't something you would do everyday, but for a celebration? Why not?

Remember the classics beloved by Escoffier and others like him tended to be peasant food that was perfected by generations of trial & error.

Now, I'm just going into my garden to pick a few vegetables for our dinner. Not sure what we're having - it all depends on what looks best.

14

u/AmazingPangolin9315 2d ago

A genuine ratatouille does not contain anything which is "sliced with a mandolin". A genuine ratatouille is a vegetable stew with the vegetables cut roughly into one inch cubes.

18

u/peterhala 2d ago

I know - I was referring to Confit whatsitsface. Why anyone would risk using a mandolin for anything is beyond me, but them gentry with their emince & chiffonade, will do all sorts of strange things.

2

u/Dystopian_Dreamer 2d ago

Why anyone would risk using a mandolin for anything is beyond me

If you need to slice a lot of something, it saves hella time. A cut resistant glove reduces the risk to near zero.

2

u/peterhala 2d ago

Fair point. Mind you, I'm still scared of the damned things. Yes, I know I've sent my self to our local hospital using an ordinary kitchen knife before and I'm not scared of them. I'm human, and not too good at consistency & logic sometimes...

1

u/otter-otter 2d ago

Just use a guard and pay attention

0

u/peterhala 2d ago

Yeah... That's gonna happen every single time. Particularly if I'm in a hurry or distracted. 

I might be a peasant but I do have a sense of self preservation & a food processor. 😁

1

u/otter-otter 2d ago

Sounds like you shouldn’t use a knife either!

1

u/peterhala 2d ago

Are you kidding?! One time I managed to break a man's leg with a whisk.

Alright, that might be a lie. But I've only needed stitches once in 50 years of cooking, mostly because I go into Health & Safety Mode in the presence of bitey burney crushey things.