| A rodent in a restaurant? That sure doesn't sound like | | | | enlisted celebrated chef Thomas Keller of the French |
| a good premise for a movie, especially when the | | | | Laundry in Yountville and Per Se in New York for |
| rodent is a rat. | | | | advice. |
| But this particular rat, named Remy, is not only the | | | | When Remy needs to create the movie's namesake |
| lovable animated star of the new Disney-Pixar movie | | | | meal - ratatouille (a popular French vegetable dish |
| "Ratatouille," he seems quite at home whether | | | | made with eggplant, peppers, onions, tomatoes and |
| scurrying behind a 12-burner range or seasoning a pot | | | | summer squash) - to please an important restaurant |
| of potage. | | | | critic, Anton Ego, Keller (who also provides the voice |
| More than anything, Remy wants to be in the kitchen. | | | | of a restaurant patron in the movie) came up with the |
| Not going through the garbage, mind you, rather, this rat | | | | idea of basing the dish on "confit byaldi," a stacked |
| wants to be a gourmet chef, and his goal - to get his | | | | melange of paper-thin vegetables. |
| gustatory groove on at Gusteau's, a five-star Parisian | | | | Remy uses produce that looks so fresh, your eyes will |
| restaurant - is deliciously entertaining. | | | | practically water when the onion is chopped. |
| As I watched Remy foster a friendship with Linguini, | | | | While ratatouille is certainly not as challenging to make |
| the garbage boy, and begin his culinary adventure, I | | | | as the movie, there are about as many recipes for it |
| was struck by the incredible dedication to detail of | | | | as there are hairs on Remy's colorful head. |
| everything from the gleam of the copper pots in the | | | | You can serve it warm or at room temperature as a |
| kitchen and the crackling crust in a baguette to the | | | | main dish, or toss it with pasta. Mound it on slices of |
| wine that was so perfectly poured you could almost | | | | crusty bread for an open-faced sandwich, serve it as |
| smell the fruit in the Bordeaux. | | | | a salad or as an appetizer with crackers or chips for |
| Disney spent time getting the cooking details right. The | | | | dipping. |
| studio sent its animators to cooking classes, and it | | | | |