BBC Good Food

04 May 2008

Tested

"I had Ratatouille at a motorway service station in the South of France a couple of weeks ago. Believe or not, it was fantastic, and far better than I had ever had in England, where we drown the thing in tomatoes. Let's be clear, the main ingredients are aubergines and courgettes. Anyway, I spent the next week of a camping holiday trying to recreate what I had eaten at the services, and came up with almost exactly the same as the recipe on here. The only difference is that I think life is too short to skin tomatoes, it's not necessary, and I added mushrooms, which seemed to work even if not authentic. Also, I think it is better with fresh thyme, this is more Provencal than basil which gives an Italian flavour, and I’d go for a little red wine instead of vinegar and sugar. The end result for me (and at the services) was a lot mushier than the picture shown, but the vegetables still had some bite and tasted delicious. "