It’s Rat Season

August 21, 2016

This is from the June 1979 issue of Gourmet Magazine, and I can’t help wondering why they were running hte article in June.  Now when the peppers, squashes, onions and tomatoes are all hanging heavy is the ratatouille season.

The author offers two recipes. The first is from Jacques Medecin,who was then Mayor of Nice. Although Medecin wrote a well-regarded book on cuisine, you might want to think twice before using a recipe from this unsavory character. A racist friend of Le Pen, (and incidentally Minister of Tourism under Jacques Chirac), he was convicted on charges of corruption in the eighties and fled to Uruguay to escape prosecution.  He was extradited to serve time, eventually returning to Uruguay where he died.

The second recipe is from quite a different person.  Canadian sculptor, James Ritchie, had, at that point in his life, been living in the hills above Vence for 17 years, where he seems to have spent much of his life.

Take your pick.

Categorised in: Vintage Books and Magazines