Cooking with Hollywood: Ratatouille 6

Another point the movie Ratatouille brings up is about presentation. Remember when the ratatouille was placed before the critic? He had ordered the dish and and obviously had an idea in his mind about what it should look like, but something distinctly different showed up. His reaction was surprise that bordered on displeasure. He did not expect to like it. When he tasted it, however, he loved it and it evoked all of the memories he had of the wonderful taste of the ratatouille he had experienced while growing up.

This is the interesting thing about presentation. Particularly with traditional dishes, it's important not to go too far when changing a presentation. It must still be appealing in a way that people will try it. What ultimately matters is how it tastes, but you have to be sure your guest will at least try it in order for the taste to come through. Make your dish beautiful and even different, but not too bizarre.

Cooking with Hollywood: Ratatouille 5

In the Ratatouille movie, the little rat has a highly developed sense of smell that allows him to identify different ingredients. If you're not good at this, don't worry about it. I'm not so sure each individual ingredient is as important as being able to sense with the overall combination tastes good. Holding yourself to identifying ingredients is like expecting yourself to be able to able to identify wines like the Expert, Robert Parker. People have different abilities at most everything.

When you’re trying to get your taste mix right, remember to think about salt and acid. They are the two ingredients you can add that will enhance the flavor of the others.

Cooking with Hollywood: Ratatouille 3

Another favorite quote from Ratatouille: Remy, the little chef rat is explaining to his father why he loves to cook and he says, "It's because of the infinite combinations". This is contrary to what the French lady chef (can't remember her name) says, when she scolds Remy and says, "We have to follow the recipe!" Actually, making up our own combinations is a luxury we have more often at home than a restaurant chef has. Once he/she has the fun of creating a recipe, it does have to be followed exactly because clients expect to be able to order a dish and have it show up the same each time. A chef has to keep to a standard to meet expectations. It's the same when you write a cookbook. The recipe has to be exact enough so that it works for everybody. At home, however, we can create a new dish every day!

Cooking with Hollywood: Ratatouille 2

One of my favorite quotes from the movie came from Chef Gousteau himself... "If you're hungry, look around!" One of my favorite things to do is to look in the refrigerator. As another character in the same movie said, "Chefs discover. They create." There is a bit of artistry to cooking and when you can create something that is totally yours, that's when it's really fun. I think that's why it was so rewarding for me to create the Flavor Secrets cookbook. Those recipes are full of my soul. They reflect the way I think about cooking and allow me to share dishes that we eat at home every day.

If you're confused about what flavors go together, there is a wonderful book called "Culinary Artistry" that is simply lists of ingredients and what blends well with them. This doesn't mean that they are the only combinations - your taste buds should be your ultimate guide - but it's helpful when people are beginning to cook without recipes. It will give you some confidence!

Cooking with Hollywood: Ratatouille 1

A friend of mine suggested that I write about cooking with Hollywood - i.e. the role that food plays in movies. That's an interesting thought, so let's go back again to Ratatouille, the animated movie where a sweet, little rat becomes a chef. Cooking is his passion, so he tries different dishes, imagines different spice combinations, and spends time reading cookbooks. He learns how to become a great cook because of his passion.

On the other hand, a boy (called Linguine) has a job as a cook and is a total disaster. The little rat helps the boy create great dishes by sitting under his hat and pulling his hair. Each pull controls what the boy does (lift an arm, grab a spice, stir the pot, and so forth). The boy, however, doesn't learn. He follows the motions and in the end does what he likes (which is fine) and becomes a great waiter, delivering food to enthusiastic customers that the rat and his friends make.

A cookbook highlighted in the movie (by a great chef and the little rat's mentor) is called, "Anyone Can Cook". I say that anyone can LEARN to cook who pays attention and has the desire. They only need direction (recipes and/or a mentor chef)and the DESIRE to cook well. As with learning anything, you have to pay attention, want to learn and invest time experimenting on your own.