Day 185

Ratatouille: Today's post is another find from Your Dekalb Farmers Market's hot bar that I visited yesterday. I was excited to see several items on the bar that I'd never tried, and with a price of only $4.99/lb, I managed to take home 4 different new foods. Not bad. After a fairly positive experience yesterday with the Indian dish masoor dal, I was looking forward to trying something else.

When I saw the classic French dish ratatouille on YDFM's hot bar, I knew I had to take some home. I'd never heard of it before the movie became popular a few years ago, and I still didn't know what was in it. I do a fair amount of restaurant dining, but I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu in Atlanta. That being said, I was surprised to see it on this hot bar. I had no idea if their version was authentic (or even good), but I spooned a small amount onto my to-go plate anyway.

I decided to give it a try with my lunch today, and i hoped it would hold up well after reheating in the microwave. I usually do a bit of research about what I'm eating before I try it, but I decided to skip that step with this - it looked innocent enough. With my first bite, I instantly picked up on a strong tomato flavor, which wasn't that surprising due to the color of the dish. I also noticed some tender chunks of zucchini, onion, and possible eggplant in the mix, and the whole thing was really hearty. There was a small amount of oil left in the plate when I finished, but I assume that's used to get the vegetables tender in the cooking process. I could see it working well as a side dish, or as a main if paired with some bread or rice. Good stuff.

When I finally did some research tonight, Wikipedia stated that "tomatoes are a key ingredient, with garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, carrot, marjoram and basil." It was hard for me to detect all of those, and maybe YDFM's version didn't even contain the whole list. Nevertheless, it was a tasty dish that I'm glad I tried.