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Sunday, March 17, 2019

Ratatouille for Wine Lovers

We have seen this movie countless of times when it first came out in 2007 since our friend's children were very much into watching this movie. We loved it so much we even have the DVD, but obviously we weren't paying attention to details. But last night, we were watching it again on our regular television broadcasting and certain scenes caught our eye.
First let me set the stage: Ratatouille is an animated film that won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
The main characters include:
  • Auguste Gusteau (whose first and last names are anagrams of each other), deceased owner of the eponymous restaurant
  • Chef Skinner, a diminutive chef who took over ownership of Auguste Gusteau's restaurant after Gusteau's death
  • Alfredo Linguini, the son of Auguste Gusteau and Renata Linguini (you don't know this at the start of the movie, it is part of the plot)
  • Colette Tatou, chef de partie, who is tasked by Chef Skinner to train Linguini
  • Remy, the rat with a desire to become the best chef in Paris
  • Anton Ego, a restaurant critic
The premise of this movie is that Remy, the rat, aspires to become the best chef in Paris and his human collaborator, Alfredo Linguini (don't you love that name!) is a willing puppet. Linguini calls Remy, the Little Chef and together they create delicious dishes. Gusteau's Restaurant becomes a place with a buzz. Then, Anton Ego, the arrogant restaurant critic decides to put the renewed Guesteau's to the test.
On the appointed evening, Anton Ego struts into the restaurant and orders whatever the chef has on the menu and a bottle Cheval Blanc 1947. But Gusteau's is out of this legendary vintage and provides Anton Ego with the 1961 Chateau Latour.
(Non-spoiler, spoiler alert): To pair with the Chateau Latour, Remy and Linguini create ratatouille. This is a beautiful part of the movie and if you are a foodie, you can really relate to this scene. On the blogsite Benito's Wine Reviews, he calls the moment that Anton Ego had his first bite of ratatouille, a Ratatouille Moment, that phrase is definitely going into my lexicon.
I later learned that this ratatouille was modeled on the creation by Thomas Keller, of The French Laundry, which Keller named confit byaldi, in honor of the dish's Turkish origins.
This is a movie that will appeal to both children and parents, especially if the parents are foodies. After watching this movie, we really wanted to go out and get the ingredients to make ratatouille, especially Thomas Keller style.
References:
1. Wikipedia Ratatouille, the movie.
2. The illustration is from Benito's Wine Reviews, November 20, 2017.

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