A rodent in a restaurant? That sure doesn't sound like a good premise for a movie, especially when the rodent is a rat. But this particular rat, named Remy, is not only the lovable animated star of the new Disney-Pixar movie "Ratatouille," he seems quite at home whether scurrying behind a 12-burner range or seasoning a pot of potage. More than anything, Remy wants to be in the kitchen. Not going through the garbage, mind you, rather, this rat wants to be a gourmet chef, and his goal to get his gustatory groove on at Gusteau's, a five-star Parisian restaurant is deliciously entertaining. As I watched Remy foster a friendship with Linguini, the garbage boy, and begin his culinary adventure, I was struck by the incredible dedication to detail of everything from the gleam of the copper pots in the kitchen and the crackling crust in a baguette to the wine that was so perfectly poured you could almost smell the fruit in the Bordeaux. Disney spent time getting the cooking details right. The studio sent its animators to cooking classes, and it enlisted celebrated chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville and Per Se in New York for advice. When Remy needs to create the movie's namesake meal ratatouille (a popular French vegetable dish made with eggplant, peppers, onions, tomatoes and summer squash) to please an important restaurant critic, Anton Ego, Keller (who also provides the voice of a restaurant patron in the movie) came up with the idea of basing the dish on "confit byaldi," a stacked melange of paper-thin vegetables. Remy uses produce that looks so fresh, your eyes will practically water when the onion is chopped. While ratatouille is certainly not as challenging to make as the movie, there are about as many recipes for it as there are hairs on Remy's colorful head. You can serve it warm or at room temperature as a main dish, or toss it with pasta. Mound it on slices of crusty bread for an open-faced sandwich, serve it as a salad or as an appetizer with crackers or chips for dipping.
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