table talk / By Joseph Byrd

Inside Byrd Labs: Part II

Unlocking the mystery of the ratatouille in Disney’s ‘Ratatouille’

(Dec. 13, 2007)  When Brad Bird’s Pixar/Disney animated film Ratatouille was released last summer, we were overwhelmed with buzz. Seldom has any movie gotten so unanimous a lovefest: The online movie review site Rotten Tomatoes gave it a critical 97 percent, with an audience rating of 100 percent. Even in the food world, there was a passionate response. “The atmosphere of the movie reminded me of the older, classic Disney-flicks, and then with a lot of great food scenes thrown in,” was a post in the über-foodie portal eGullet.org.

For those who somehow have escaped it, the plot involves a French rat with preternatural culinary skills, who befriends a clueless young wannabe cook in a once-famous Parisian restaurant.

GALLERY >

It is an excellent film, though I thought the enthusiasm a little overwrought. It’s like early Disney in terms of richness of detail, but far more advanced in terms of camera angles and overall design. Everything is so effortless that you have to pull back to notice the technique. Certainly it’s the most sophisticated animation movie in half a century.

But for me, the story line was highly flawed. Credibility gap after gap, especially in the food. What are those odd white cubes that go into everything — butter?

What kept me enthralled, though, was the restaurant kitchen, in which much of the film takes place, and the choreography among cooks. At its best, a restaurant kitchen at prime time is an exciting place to be, and the film captures this.

The other captivating element was the one truly special dish, the magic dish, the title dish. Ratatouille.

Ratatouille, to puncture some balloons, is about the least exciting contribution known to French country cuisine. Frankly, it is dull, a summer vegetable stew composed of the things one ends up with too much of: lots of squash, sweet pepper and eggplant in a thick tomato/garlic sauce. The French commonly serve it as a side dish (though certainly it has a history as a peasant main course, with bread). I have never had one I truly enjoyed. The classic French Family Cooking by Philomenep, incorporating a score of wonderful vegetable recipes, doesn’t even mention it.

Now it gets interesting. The movie hired the legendary Thomas Keller (of The French Laundry in Yountville) as consultant, and asked him to create the signature dish himself. And in the movie, the presentation of this dish is spectacular — a small tower of delicate slices surrounded by a sauce. So how did Keller re-invent a pedestrian dish as a culinary masterpiece? Well, his website says it’s the same as a New York Times recipe for something called, “Confit Byaldi.”

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