What French vegetable stew from Provence includes tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers? The answer is ratatouille.
Ratatouille is a traditional Provençal dish, especially associated with Nice and the surrounding Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. It is a rustic stew or sauté of summer vegetables cooked in olive oil. Typical versions also include onions, garlic, and herbs such as basil, thyme, marjoram, fennel, or bay leaf.
The recipe is not completely fixed. Some cooks sauté each vegetable separately before combining them, while others simmer everything together. The name comes from Occitan ratatolha and related French verbs meaning “to stir” or “toss.” The dish grew from rural cooking, where households used abundant seasonal produce.
A common historical mix-up is assuming all its ingredients are ancient French crops. Tomatoes, peppers, and squash originated in the Americas and reached Europe after the 16th century; they became widely accepted in France much later. Ratatouille is also distinct from bouillabaisse, the Provençal fish stew.