Monday, October 16, 2023

'Ratatouille' inspired culinary creativity


You know, "Ratatouille" has never really been one of my "favorite" Disney/Pixar movies, but I do have to acknowledge the impact it's had on me and others.

The story of a rat puppeteering a famous chef's son to help them both live out their restaurant-related dreams is wild and whimsical on its own, plus there's the sense of care and attention to detail in the way Pixar animates the movie, especially where the food is concerned.

I legitimately wanted to try all the food in the movie after watching "Ratatouille" for the first time. I wasn't even disappointed to discover that despite appearances, ratatouille is made with tomatoes and not pepperoni.

I also think a lot of scenes fit a warm, cozy fall vibe, particularly the one in the video above that features the food critic reliving a seasonally appropriate memory from his childhood after he takes a bite of the ratatouille.

Likewise, I even went through a phase of experimenting with food after watching the movie. In one prime example, I added Goldfish crackers to my grilled cheese sandwiches—which actually isn't bad, by the way, but I never really figured out the proper ratio of Goldfish to add to each sandwich.

And apparently, the movie is still reasonably popular.

When I had a movie day planned for my class, I asked my students to suggest movie ideas based on which streaming services I had access to, one of which was Disney+. "Ratatouille" was a genuine contender before getting beaten out by "Ice Age."

I was teaching a college English class, by the way, so these were options picked by people in their late teens and early 20s. Plus one nontraditional student who was probably around 40.

But I think that really speaks to the timelessness and overall popularity of "Ratatouille." If it managed to get me into an experimental cooking phase, I can only imagine how many real chefs the movie probably inspired.

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