Ratatouille is a vegetable-based side dish typical of Provençal cuisine, widespread in most of France and especially in the city of Nice, where it is called ratatouille niçoise; its name evokes the gesture of stirring the vegetables, which comes from the French touiller and the Occitan ratatolha. It is composed of fresh vegetables cut into cubes of equal size and stewed together respecting the right order of insertion in the pot so as not to risk overcooking them or, on the contrary, leaving them too crunchy. It is usually prepared in summer when the vegetables are more abundant and tasty and can be flavoured with fresh thyme, basil or other aromatic herbs as desired. Served as a side dish with an accompaniment of boiled rice, potatoes or even simply on bread, it is often enriched with sliced onion.
