Confit byaldi is a variation on the traditional French dish

ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ), oc, ratatolha , is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables which originated in Nice, and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include ...

by French chef

Michel Guérard Michel Guérard (; born 27 March 1933) is a French chef, author, one of the founders of ''nouvelle cuisine'', and the inventor of ''cuisine minceur''. Early life and education Michel Guérard was born in 1933 in the Paris suburb of Vétheuil. At ...

History

The

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is a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

on the Turkish dish "

İmam bayıldı İmam bayıldı (literally: "the imam fainted") is a dish in Ottoman cuisine consisting of whole eggplant stuffed with onion, garlic and tomatoes, and simmered in olive oil. It is a ( olive oil-based) dish and is found in most of the forme ...

", which is a stuffed

eggplant Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mos ...

. The original ratatouille recipe had the

vegetables Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

fried before

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred " ...

. Since at least 1976, some French

chefs A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

have prepared the ratatouille vegetables in thin slices instead of the

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

al rough-cut.

, in his book founding ''

cuisine minceur Cuisine minceur (; ) is a style of cooking created by French chef Michel Guérard, which recreated lighter versions of traditional nouvelle cuisine dishes. Contemporary critics acknowledged that the minceur versions by Guérard tasted better and wer ...

'' (1976), recreated lighter versions of the traditional dishes of

nouvelle cuisine ''Nouvelle cuisine'' (; ) is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to cuisine classique, an older form of haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased e ...

. His recipe, ''confit bayaldi'', differed from ratatouille by not frying the vegetables, removing peppers and adding mushrooms. American

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...

Thomas Keller Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Founda ...

first wrote about a dish he called "byaldi" in his 1999 cookbook, ''

The French Laundry Cookbook ''The French Laundry Cookbook'' is a 1999 cookbook written by American chefs Thomas Keller, Michael Ruhlman, and Susie Heller; illustrated by Deborah Jones. The book features recipes from Keller's restaurant The French Laundry. It won the 2000 Inte ...

''. Keller's variation of Guérard's added two sauces: a tomato and peppers sauce at the bottom ('' pipérade''), and a

vinaigrette Vinaigrette ( , ) is made by mixture, mixing an oil with a mild acid such as vinegar or lemon juice (citric acid). The mixture can be enhanced with salt, herbs and/or spices. It is used most commonly as a salad dressing, but can also be used as ...

at the top. He served as food consultant to the

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

film ''

Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ), oc, ratatolha , is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables which originated in Nice, and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include ...

'', allowing its producer,

Brad Lewis Bradford Clark Lewis (born April 29, 1958) is an American film producer, animation director, and politician. He produced ''Antz'', the Oscar-winning ''Ratatouille,'' and '' How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World''. He also co-directed ''Cars ...

, to shadow for two days in the kitchen of his restaurant,

The French Laundry The French Laundry is a three-Michelin star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredie ...

. Lewis asked Keller how he would cook ratatouille if the most famous

food critic The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...

in the world were to visit his restaurant. Keller decided he would make the ratatouille in ''confit byaldi'' form, and fan the vegetable rounds

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

-style with a

palette knife A palette knife is a blunt tool used for mixing or applying paint, with a flexible steel blade. It is primarily used for applying paint to the canvas, mixing paint colors, adding texture to the painted surface, paste, etc., or for marbling, decora ...

Preparation and serving

Per Thomas Keller's recipe, a pipérade is made of peeled, finely chopped, and reduced

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

yellow onion The brown onion or yellow onion (''Allium cepa'' L.) is a variety of dry onion with a strong flavour. They have a greenish-white, light yellow, or white inside; its layers of papery skin have a yellow-brown or pale golden colour. It is higher i ...

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es,

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

, and

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s. The piperade is spread thinly in a

baking tray Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...

casserole A casserole ( French: diminutive of , from Provençal 'pan') is a normally large deep pan or bowl a casserole is anything in a casserole pan. Hot or cold History Baked dishes have existed for thousands of years. Early casserole recipes ...

dish, then layered on top with evenly sized, thinly sliced rounds of

zucchini The zucchini (; plural: zucchini or zucchinis), courgette (; plural: courgettes) or baby marrow (''Cucurbita pepo'') is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are stil ...

, yellow squash,

Japanese eggplant Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mos ...

, and roma tomatoes, covered in

parchment paper Parchment paper, or vegetable parchment, is a cellulose-based composite that has been processed to give it additional properties like non-stickiness, grease resistance, and resistance to humidity. It is commonly used in baking as a disposable ...

, then baked slowly for several hours to steam the vegetables. The parchment is removed so that the vegetables may then roast, acquiring additional flavor through

caramelization Caramelization is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting sweet nutty flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: caramelans (C24H36O18), caramelens (C36H50O25), and c ...

. To serve, the piperade is formed into a small mound, and the rounds arranged in a fanned-out pattern to cover the piperade base. A

balsamic Balsamic vinegar ( it, aceto balsamico) is a very dark, concentrated and intensely flavoured vinegar originating in Modena, Italy, made wholly or partially from grape must: freshly crushed grape juice with all the skins, seeds and stems. The te ...

is drizzled on the plate, which may be garnished. Despite the delicate preparation and presentation, confit byaldi, like most ratatouilles, improves with age overnight in the refrigerator.

References

External links

New York Times recipe

A Guide on How to Make Confit Byaldi

Daily News of Newburyport recipe

The Bachelor's Gourmet #2 - Confit Byaldi (aka "Ratatouille")
video showing the recipe
ChefSteps Pixar-style Ratatouille
{{DEFAULTSORT:Confit Byaldi French cuisine Casserole dishes Eggplant dishes Vegetarian cuisine Vegan cuisine

History

Preparation and serving

See also

References

External links