Chez Teresa/A Taste d'Angleterre in Fontevraud L'abbaye in
the Loire Valley as a business comprises of a Salon de The/Petit Restaurant, a boutique crammed to the rafters with French and British collectables and a Bed and Breakfast. I run the business with my family and we are located at the heart of the village next to the jewel in the crown that is the Abbaye Royale in Fontevraud. Since
moving here in 2006 we have begun to notice some changes in the culture of
food and drink in France and this has had a dramatic impact on the way we run our business especially in terms of what is available in the supermarkets and general fruits, within the smaller epiceries and at the wonderful fresh fruit and vegetable markets. As I am the one who does most of the cooking this is good from my point of view as it means for me
that there is more choice available in terms of the availability of
ingredients that I can use to create my cakes and savoury dishes.
We
live in a village where we still have two boulangeries, a
biscuiterie, and some traditional style French restaurants and cafés.
In addition and where the crow flies down the road in Montsoreau
there are a few more traditional French shops and eateries. Here also
a wonderful market is held on a Sunday morning where local produce
including local cheeses, honey, fruit, fungi and vegetables reign
supreme. In an age where the supermarket and shopping malls are
beginning to take over commerce and where we cannot help but note
that such huge complexes have the negative effect of sucking the life
blood from town centres we count ourselves fortunate indeed to have
all these wonderful places on our doorstep. Not that I am against
supermarkets per sé. It would certainly
be difficult to run a business in France and fulfil the expectations
of our customers without access to what they have to offer. In fact
one of our neighbours does live a life sans supermarche, and I
admire her principles. For most of us however this is just not a
realistic or economical option.
In
a similar vein, our local fruit and vegetable market is also
beginning to stock produce from other parts of Europe and in
particular from Spain. In part this is probably because in France
like in the United Kingdom we have discovered, due to the impact of
multi media and cookery shows on the television, that it is possible
to create dishes and have access to produce that is not in season all
year round. Now that it is summer the brightly coloured array of vegetables on the stalls at the local market cry out for me to make a Ratatouille. In season it is actually one of the most
popular vegetarian dishes that we offer, and one that is recognisable
and popular across the globe so whether visitors are from the United
Kingdom, United States or even Uruguay
our customers know
Ratatouille as a delicious dish. Possibly one of the greatest
vegetarian dishes of all time, surprisingly it is not actually one of
those provincial dishes that has been served in France since time
immemorial.
If
you thought that Ratatouille was a dish made to feed a hungry brood
of farmers and family from times past then think again....The
origins of Ratatouille it is true are deeply rooted in the south of
France and today Ratatouille is as synonymous with Nice as is the
ubiquitous Salade Nicoise. Ratatouille first seems however to have
become popular as late as the 1930s when the dish began to feature as
a kind of vegetable stew or ragout served in bistros and
Auberges. Comprising of onions, garlic, red and green peppers and
green courgettes, interesting enough unlike today, it did not feature
the aubergine. Whatever its origins Ratatouille has all the elements
of a hearty peasant farmers dish that continue in this age of
convenience food and the pulling in of the purse strings to be a a
relatively fast food dish that is nourishing and inexpensive to make.
Today
at the market I can only buy onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers and
courgettes as our key ingredients for the dish today. A trip to the
nearby supermarket in Saumur would have presented an aubergine on its
shelves and no problem, but I was not tempted to go.... What is
interesting on a number of levels is the fact that a regional
supermarket is even open on a Sunday and is illustrative of changes
in French day to day life. Another change of note is that when we
first moved here in 2006, by and large the supermarkets themselves
only offered seasonal produce. Now in 2014 it is possible to buy
strawberries out of season, and innumerable other items that in the
past would simply not have been available including an aubergine.
Sans aubergine I nevertheless decided to make this dish and because
the original recipe for Ratatouille did not feature this vegetable at
all I decided to try making it without this vegetable and to be honest it
was just as tasty.
Method
behind the making of a good Ratatouille
Of
course there are a number of approaches to the making of Ratatouille
from the fast to the slow method.....reminding me of the time when I
was living in Dublin and my local publican used to ask me if I wanted
a traditional slow pulled Guinness and a fast one whilst I waited?
Not that I am suggesting that you have two pans of Ratatouille on the
go, though you could of course...
UK
chef Nigel Slater suggests that we take our time when making
Ratatouille advising us to blacken our peppers first and then take
each of the ingredients, sauté them in olive oil then for the final
stage to bring all the elements together. Having tried this method
and the faster approach of throwing everything in the pan –
apparently BBC Television chef and cordon bleu restaurant owner
Raymond Blanc prefers this approach - and having concluded that life
is indeed too short and that the infinitesimal difference between the
two methods in terms of taste and compliments that we have received
over the years, leads me to conclude that the fast method is
delicious and really quite as good. As the word Ratatouille
actually comes from the french term "touiller," which means
to toss food, I have no qualms in adopting this method, so I am with
Raymond on this one....
What
we are aiming for in this recipe is for the veggies to be tender, but
not sloppy and for the sauce to be rich and flavoursome so please see
below an extract from my Chez Teresa Recipe Book which you may like
to try.
Courgettes
grown in the Loire Valley are particularly fine, and we enjoy using
yellow and green courgettes in our cooking as the yellow ones have a
delicate flavour, hold their texture well and are attractive to
serve.
Ratatouille
2
large aubergines
4
small courgettes
2
red or yellow peppers
4
large ripe tomatoes
5
tbsp olive oil
small
bunch basil
1
medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3
large fresh garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1
tbsp red wine vinegar
1
tsp sugar
Especially
during the summer months when the local produce is at its freshest
and best we enjoy the simplicity and yet depth of flavour that this
dish brings to the table. It is especially delicious when served with
a contrasting accompaniment such as a buckwheat galette. An added
bonus is the fact that it really is the easiest of all recipes as you
literally chop, chop all your veg and load it into a pan of heated
olive oil and stir and simmer until all the vegetables are tender. If
you choose to make Ratatouille without aubergine then just double
your quantity of courgettes. With an aubergine or without this dish
is simply one of the best vegetarian dishes ever created.
