Ratatouille

Yes, another food thread.
Yesterday I had lunch in the Petit Blanc in Oxford, part of the estimable Raymond Blanc's stable. I had what the menu called grey mullet on a bed of ratatouille. Now, I personally think of (and indeed cook) ratatouille as a mixture of slow-cooked vegetables (typically aubergines (US eggplant), tomatoes, courgettes (US zucchini), peppers, onions, etc) such that by the time it's cooked the flavours have intermingled and the components are pleasantly soft and nicely combined. This ratatouille, though very palatable, was more like what I'd call a salsa: the chopped peppers, tomatoes etc were at most al dente, and there was a spicy chiliness which I don't usually associate with ratatouille.
The charming French waiter told us that this was his first day, and I didn't feel cruel enough to subject him to such a quibble. I went home to rootle in reference books. But I was discombobulated to find that our 1961 Larouisse Gastronomique contains no entry for ratatouille at all. I'm only sonewhat comforted by the entry in the online Trésor de la Langue Française Informatisé (acknowledgements to Raymond's post in the Beignets thread), which says, in part:

"Synon. ragoût. 'On aurait pu lui servir la ratatouille la mieux accommodée, son estomac se barrait, ses dents molles refusaient de mâcher' (ZOLA, Assommoir, 1877)"
I'd be interested to learn what others understand by the word ratatouille.

Katy Jennison
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