Last month when I was on the island of Elba, one of the Tuscan archipelago of islands, I came across a dish on a menu I’d never seen before: gurguglione. Excited to find a new dish with such an unusual name, I called the waiter over. It was, he informed me, a typical Tuscan dish of slow cooked vegetables. Well that’s interesting, I said, because I’ve been studying food in Tuscany for 12 years and have never heard of this “typical” dish! In Siena when they cook a bunch of vegetables together they call it “verdure in umido”, cooked vegetables. (Turned out he was from Sardegna and had been working in Germany for 30 years, what does he know of “typical Tuscan!” )
This is a good example of how incredibly diverse regional Italian food can be: you can live in a region for years and new dishes keep popping up. Like I always say, it’s like peeling an onion.
So he starts calling people over and the discussion ensues. Pretty soon we have two waiters, the chef, two cooks, a bus boy and the man sitting at the next table all discussing gurguglione, where it came from, why it’s called that and what it means.
I was comforted to know that the chef was the most informed. According to him, “gurgugliare” is an old Tuscan verb that means “to gurgle”, but the name for this dish is typical to Elba . As the vegetables cook, they gurgle. It can be any combination of seasonal vegetables, but the night I had it in June, it was made with zucchini, peppers, eggplant and tomatoes, much like ratatouille in France.
My grandmother used to make something similar, a lovely medley of summer vegetables to which she added cooked slices of Italian sausage. She used to call it “gimbot”, and I’ve spent years trying to find out the real name. One summer evening a couple of years ago, I made a big pot to share with my friends, Oriana and family. I told them my grandma called it “gimbot”, but I didn’t know what the real name was or where it came from. They looked at it and said “Oh, ratatouille!”
The next afternoon, Oriana called me in a state of excitement to say that a good friend from Basilicata had stopped by for an impromptu lunch and she served the leftover gimbot. After tasting it her friend asked where she learned to make ciambotto from Basilicata, it was just like her grandmother used to make! That’s how those dialects go in the south: make the “c” a “g” and cut off the end of the word.
Call it what you will, this is the perfect time of year for a big pot of stewed summer vegetables. Head to your farmers market, get out your largest pot and chop some fresh herbs. It’s delicious with Italian sausages and good bread with herbed butter.
Buon Appetito! Gina
Ciambotto con Salsicce (vegetable stew & sausage)
This hearty dish is best in the summer when every ingredient but the sausage comes fresh out of the garden. It can be served without the sausage for a filling vegetarian dinner and is excellent with a slice of good country bread spread with herb butter.
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2-3 bell peppers, red or yellow
4 zucchini or summer squash
1 medium eggplant
6 fresh tomatoes, seeded and chopped
extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil
1 teas fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh tarragon
Sea salt, fresh ground black pepper
6 sweet or hot Italian sausages
Wash and cut all the vegetables into large cubes. The stew will cook for up to an hour and the vegetables should be large enough to maintain their shape and not disintegrate.
In a large pot, brown the sausages and set aside. Add olive oil to the pot and sauté the onion and garlic 2 minutes. Add the bell peppers, stir to coat with oil and sauté 5 minutes. Follow with the zucchini and then the eggplant, 1 teas each salt and pepper, stir to coat and sauté 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and thyme and allow to cook for 30 minutes or more. Adjust salt to taste. Before serving stir in the basil and tarragon. You may either serve the stew with the sausages on the side or slice them and reheat them in the ciambotto.
Herb butter:
Fresh butter
Parsley, basil, chives, thyme, tarragon in any combination
Sea salt
Soften the butter and mix in the chopped herbs and salt.
FAQs
The Tuscan Stew called Gurguglione di Elba utilizes similar ingredients that take full advantage of the summer harvest; eggplants, tomatoes, green bell peppers, mint, basil, summer onions, and garlic. We can add this to our ever-growing list of yummy eggplant dishes.
What does ratatouille mean? ›
The word ratatouille derives from the Occitan ratatolha and is related to the French ratouiller and tatouiller, expressive forms of the verb touiller, meaning "to stir up". From the late 18th century, in French, it merely indicated a coarse stew.
What is ratatouille made of? ›
Ratatouille is traditionally made with tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, and eggplant when they are at the peak of their season at the same time. Garlic, thyme, and basil are often added to the mix as well.
What country does ratatouille say the best food is made in? ›
Narrator : [on television] Although each of the world's countries would like to dispute this fact, we French know the truth: the best food in the world is made in France. The best food in France is made in Paris. And the best food in Paris, some say, is made by Chef Auguste Gusteau.
Why is ratatouille so special? ›
The Story
What makes Ratatouille so special is that its story covers so many bases without feeling overstuffed: Remy's storyline deals with identity and finding one's passion, Linguini has to learn to grow a backbone, and the commercialization of good food even gets its nose into the picture.
What do you eat ratatouille with? ›
How to Serve Ratatouille. Ratatouille can be the main dish with a side of crusty bread or a salad accompanying a meal, but it's also good served over polenta, pasta, mashed potatoes, quinoa, and rice. Use it as a filling for omelets and tarts or as a side for grilled or roasted meats.
Is ratatouille a good meal? ›
This simple yet elegant dish is a healthy and delicious way to enjoy the best of summer produce. Whether served as a side dish or a main course, ratatouille is a delicious ode to seasonal produce and the art of French cooking.
What is the secret for a good ratatouille? ›
Ratatouille requires ripe vegetables, a liberal hand with the olive oil, and patience: only long, slow cooking will give you the creamy soft vegetables, and intense, almost jammy sauce that sings of the sun. Anything else is just plain vegetable stew.
Do you eat ratatouille on its own? ›
Like a good pasta salad or quiche, ratatouille is famous for its flexibility. Serve it hot, cold, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, at a picnic, as a main, as a side, topped with a fried egg or on its own.
Is ratatouille French or Italy? ›
History of Ratatouille
This beloved summer stew first emerged as a solution for hunger, as it was invented by poor farmers back in 1700s Provençe. With so many bellies to fill, nothing could go to waste. Accordingly, the French peasants would cook their leftover vegetables for hours to create a hearty, coarse stew.
Whatever the case, ratatouille is the signature dish of Nice, the major city of Provence. It is a good example of “peasant cooking,” food characteristic of a rural countryside that has been elevated to the status of fine dining, as presented in the eponymous Pixar film of 2007.
What is the dish at the end of ratatouille? ›
Fun fact: the signature dish Rémy serves at the end of Ratatouille isn't technically a ratatouille; it's a tian, which is an artful arrangement of sliced summer vegetables baked over a tomato and pepper sauce.
What nationality is ratatouille? ›
The modern recipe for Ratatouille originated in the Nice and Provencal regions of France. Its official French name is Ratatouille Niçoise.
Why do they call it ratatouille? ›
The teeming summer gardens of Mediterranean France are the inspiration for and source of ratatouille, a dish whose name is taken from two related words: ratouiller, meaning to agitate or stir a liquid, and tatouiller, meaning to beat (as in the drumbeat called the tattoo) or to shake.
What is ratatouille in Latin? ›
Etymology. Borrowed from Occitan ratatolha (ratatouille is a dish from Nice, in Provence), French form from diminutive prefix tat- + touiller (“to stir”), from Latin tudiculō (“to grind, mix”).
What is ratatouille actually? ›
Ratatouille is a vegetable stew (a single dish, not an entire meal) originating from Provence in France. It usually contains eggplant, tomato, onion, and a variety of other herbs and vegetables. It's a popular folk dish in the region, so there are a lot of variant recipes.
What is the French name for ratatouille? ›
The modern recipe for Ratatouille originated in the Nice and Provencal regions of France. Its official French name is Ratatouille Niçoise.
