Ratatouille

Ratjetoe

300 grams lean hamburger
nutmeg, salt and pepper
30 grams margarine
2 chopped onions
2 cloves garlic
150 ml sour cream
150 ml stock or bouillon
750 gram new (small) potatoes
300 grams grated cheese

In a skillet heat the butter and fry the beef, adding salt, pepper and nutmeg, the chopped onion and the pressed garlic clove, and separate with a fork. Grease a baking dish. Mix the sour cream and bouillon. Put a layer of potatoes in the dish, add a layer of meat, a layer of cheese and keep adding layers, finishing with a layer of potatoes. Pour the sour cream and bouillon mix over it and bake in a preheated over at 200C/390F for about 20-25 minutes.

Ratatouille originally comes from the Provence region of France; ‘touiller’ is the regional verb for ‘stir.’ The local stew often contained vegetables only, such as eggplant, courgette, tomatoes, onions and bell peppers. In Dutch parliance, the word was bastardized to ‘ratjetoe’, often used to describe a hodgepodge, or worse: a mess. Of course, Dutch children did not like hearing that they would have ‘ratjetoe’ for supper’, as they could think it was to be ‘a small rat as desert’.