a spoonful of thick sweet-smelling ratatouille |
A really exceptional woman this week: Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (1908-1992). The more I read about her, the more I want to read. Her writings crammed with vivid detail that make both places and food come alive are a real joy. I have included the whole description of her ratatouille simply because I don’t want you to miss any of the loving detail.
The first few years of her marriage to Alfred Fisher were spent abroad mostly in France and particularly in Dijon, which at that time was considered the ‘gastronomical capital of the world’. Later she herself would describe the two years there as ‘two shaking and making years in my life’. Can you imagine how she must have loved it, how different it must have been to anything she had experienced before? There she learned how live and eat simply but well and her writings ‘revere’ this art, also ‘of taking pleasure where it is found and of loving life with all of its challenges’.
This Seasonal Cook decided to make MFK’s ratatouille as I wanted a dish that uses all the beautiful ripe summer vegetables that are in abundance here just as they would have been for her in France.
my ingredients for the ratatouille |
I know this dish well because my French mother would make it but this recipe is simpler in every sense, no courgettes for a start – that long cooking would turn them into mush – and no tomato purée either. I’m guessing that’s because the tomatoes she would have used, like mine here, were bursting with flavour anyway.
my juicy tomatoes sliced generously |
“I learned to make ratatouille from a large strong woman, a refugee, not political but economic, from an island off Spain: There was not enough food to go around in her family, and she and her husband were the sturdies, so they got out. They ran a vegetable store with one little window and almost no space….She was a great big beautiful woman: coal-black hair, big black eyes, but a very big grossly overweight body. I do not know how she squeezed through that little square hole. She and her tiny husband evidently slept, ate, lived down there.
“She taught me more than her stew, without knowing that I often pondered on how she washed her gleaming hair and stayed generally so sweet smelling, when it was plain that both she and the lettuces must bathe at the public pump and sleep in the dark cellar or under the little counter. She cooked on a gas ring behind a curtain at the back of the store, and that is how I came to ask her questions, because her stew had such a fine smell. She looked at me as if I were almost as ignorant as I was, and after my first lesson from her I bought a big earthenware pot, which I still use.
“The first ingredients were and still are eggplant and onions, garlic, green peppers, red peppers, plenty of ripe peeled tomatoes and some good olive oil. Proportions are impossible to fix firmly, since everything changes in size and flavor, but perhaps there should be three parts of eggplant to two of tomatoes and one each of the peppers and the onions and garlic. I really cannot say.
“Everything is sliced, cubed, chopped, minced, and, except for the tomatoes, is put into the pot…thrown in, that is, for the rough treatment pushes down the mass.
adding all the ingredients to the pot |
the final layer of tomatoes – next, the lid! |
At the end, when there is less than no room, the tomatoes are cubed or sliced generously across the top, and the lid is pressed down ruthlessly. When it is taken off, a generous amount of olive oil must be trickled over the whole to seep down. Then the lid is put on again. It may not quite fit, but it will soon drop into place. The whole goes into a gentle (300 degree) oven for about as long as one wishes to leave it there, like five or six hours. It should be stirred up from the bottom with a long spoon every couple of hours. It will be very soupy for a time, and then is when it makes a delicious nourishing meal served generously over slices of toasted french bread with plenty of grated dry cheese.
after 4 hours |
after 5 hours |
Gradually it becomes more solid, as the air fills with the rich waftings which make neighbors sniff and smile. When it reaches the right texture to be eaten as one wishes, even with a fork, the lid can stay off and fresh shelled shrimps be laid amply on the top to turn white before they are stirred in, or small sausages already cooked well in beer or wine. Or it can simply be left in a turned-off oven to be chilled later for probably the best so-called ratatouille ever eaten.”
Here is the ever-growing list of those who have responded to Mary of One Perfect Bite’s challenge: every Friday following the list of 50 Women Game-Changers in Food we cook a recipe from the list.
Claudia, this was beautifully done. I'm so glad you could join us this week. Your choice of recipe is a delight. Have a wonderful day. Blessings…Mary
I don't think that eggplant is un-popular here?? As anything, it just depends on the eater, I suppose…I enjoy them. I'm not letting this summer end without making a big pot of ratatouille, you definitely have me craving it! Looks so good =)
I totally want some Ratatouille now – even though I have never had it. The combination of her words and your photos are a winner! Thanks for sharing.
i love ratatouille and need to make some soon. i just served everyone my adulterated version of your turkish breakfast and they loved and devoured it!
So pleased you liked this dish! Mary, the bread you made looks wonderful – like all your other dishes!
Ratatouille is good but the veg need to be absolutely in season as otherwise it's a bit of a washout. I wouldn't be tempted to make it in England, for example.
The Great Turkish Breakfast lives on!!
This ratatouille looks so beautiful. It cooked down perfectly, and the flavors look so rich! I love how you included the story and taught us where it came from.
We all wanted to make this classic dish Claudia, but I am still waiting for seasonal vegeyables. Rest assured it will show up on my table soon.
Wonderful inspiring blog i cant wait to try our some recipies xx
I Love ratatouille and this recipe looks really good.
Claudia..I've nominated you for the 7 Links Project, details of which you will find on my latest blog post which will appear some time today. xx
Thanks, everyone, for your lovely comments!
Ayak, I was checking out your blog and saw that you had nominated me! Thanks so much! I had difficulty in commenting back on your blog but finally managed it – phew! Sometimes blogger is a bit tricky. I will post later on tonight!
Excellent summer dish!I love it!
MFK is a great read! And ratatouille certainly is a great way to use all the great summer produce available here right now! =)
Claudia! What a perfect choice for you and for an homage to MFK Fisher. Ratatouille is certainly one of the most basic vegetable stews there is … and so comforting and satisfying for the nose and the stomach! Your tomatoes looks so delicious! Out tomatoes are just forming up on our plants and will be coming along in the next few weeks! Can't wait!
Claudia, Beautiful post. I am thinking of joining this important group next week. You girls rock.
You guys are great!! Thanks.