I met Pascale near an underground mosque in Yogyakarta, deep in the heart of Java’s centre for arts and culture. She was carrying a painting she had bought which I openly admired, creating the invitation for a unique and rich friendship we have been cultivating online ever since due to global Covid shutdowns just weeks after we met. Finally we are connecting again during the ease of her retirement back home in Southern France- and over our love of food.

Pascale’s career in global emergency response via the UN’s World Food Programme meant that she often found herself deep in the field, far from home, and far from comforts and familiarity. To mentally survive the extremes she encountered from years in Afghanistan to Cameroon to Haiti, she made sure she got 7 hours of sleep, made time for meditation and most importantly, she grounded herself with food.

Ratatouille is an age-old classic French embodiment of comfort. On every field mission, where possible, Pascale imparted the recipe to her domestic supports, or tried to make the meal herself when she could. The beauty of ratatouille is the universality of its basic ingredients, found in most parts of the world.

This vignette is a pure example of the power of food memory. Food itself can be evocative enough to trigger a sense of peace and belonging, and ease one’s state of mind in the most extreme of circumstances.

INGREDIENTS & METHOD

• Chop two medium yellow onions and slowly cook them in olive oil until gently browned. Use a heavy-bottomed pot, preferably iron-based for even heat distribution and a heavy lid to avoid moisture escaping.

• While the onions are cooking, steam peel two to three cups worth of tomatoes, then chop and set aside.

• Peel and chop two eggplants (one inch cubes), and stir into the softened onions. Liberally add olive oil, according to Pascale, the oil is your friend in this dish.

• Once the eggplant has softened, stir in a chopped green and yellow pepper (also one-inch pieces), lots of coarsely chopped garlic to taste, half a teaspoon of salt (or more to taste), and the chopped tomatoes.

• Let this simmer stove-top for a good 30 minutes on med-low heat, stirring occasionally. Voila! the perfect comfort food.

SERVE WITH & WINE UNDER $20

This dish is perfect on its own for a nice hardy lunch. Or for dinner, I would serve it as a side dish to accompany the classic roast chicken. Everyone thinks you need to have white wine with chicken, but I have been enjoying nice juicy red wines this season with pretty much everything! Try a Gamay or Pinot Noir with this! Beautiful gamay’s are notably produced in France’s Beaujolais region, but you can also find good Canadian ones from Niagra, including blends, and in abundance for under $20.