Ratatouille Makes It to the Op-Ed Page
How big is Ratatouille? So big that in the New York Times, Frank Bruni weighs in on the front page of the Week in Review on how Ratatouille signals the arrival of culinary discernment as a positive attribute and legitimate cultural aspiration. According to Bruni, "It establishes the toque as the new tiara and affirms the triumph of food snobs and fetishists, its special effects (the colorful fireworks that go off when a character bites into something wonderful) validating the idea of eating as enlightenment, of vegetable stew as revelation."
I don't think Bruni has it quite right. Food snobs and fetishists are not lionized in Ratatouille, inclusive and passionate discernment is, which is what I hope we practice at Serious Eats.
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6 Comments:
D'accord. The film's theme of "anyone can cook" extends to anyone can appreciate fine, simple, well prepared food. I'm hoping Ratatouille inspires children to learn to cook (even if their parents don't), but I certainly don't hope that it inspires a generation of picky snobs.
Elise Bauer at 2:53PM on 07/09/07
It is certainly disconcerting to think that Mr. Bruni may be celebrating the validation of snobbery. Perhaps he just used a poor choice of words. When I saw Ratatouille, particularly the scenes where Remi’s taste sensations were so thoughtfully rendered both visually and audibly, I immediately thought of the Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who spoke of the practice of "mindful eating" in his book Anger where he said:
Young at 6:41PM on 07/09/07
I agree with Young
JEP at 7:23PM on 07/09/07
I did not read Bruni's article myself, but did read Serious Eats description of it. If Bruni is stating the movie is celebrating food snobbery, he is missing the very point of the title of the movie and its pinnacle moment. Ratatouille is not a fussy dish associated with high end restaurant snobbery, which is why the female line cook character is surprised when the rat chooses to prepare it for the food critic. It is this dish's beautiful simplicity and tie to basic rustic French cooking that wins over the food critic and transports him back into his childhood when his mother used to prepare this very dish for him. When food is at its best, it does more than feed our sense of taste and our stomachs. It has the power of bringing forth old memories and creating new ones. People that take food seriously are not necessarily snobs, just people who truly enjoy life. Sorry Bruni, but I disagree with you on this one.
stareater at 7:59AM on 07/10/07
I don't think that he has it right, either. In fact, the moment that Ego (the cynical critic) tastes the ratatouille, he is transported out of the fancy, white-table cloth kitchen into his mother's kitchen in his youth. That says nothing of discerning palates or food snobbery. It speaks volumes about food and its greatness in simplicity. I'm sad that Bruni didn't get it.
sawyerriley at 12:29PM on 07/10/07
Yeah, but Bruni is a twit. Whaddya expect?
rps at 1:26PM on 07/10/07