Ratatouille moment

Coined in reference to a scene from the 2007 Pixar animated film Ratatouille, in which the food critic Anton Ego has a powerful emotional reaction when tasting ratatouille, a dish that evokes a nostalgic memory from his childhood.

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Ratatouille moment (plural Ratatouille moments)

1. (informal, figurative) A sudden, vivid emotional or sensory memory, typically triggered by a smell, taste, sound, or experience, that powerfully recalls a past time or feeling, often from childhood.
   • 2013 September 25, Lesley Suter, “Lesley Suter’s Ratatouille Moment”, in Bravo TV‎^[1]:

     I carry on waiting for dishes that snap me out of the food-writing fog. I like to say that these meals “make the room go quiet,” or gave me that Ratatouille moment. You know, when the mean critic takes a bite of Remy’s dish and is whooshed out of the present back to his happy childhood?

   • 2023 February 21, “Austin chef Gareth Deakes channels Ratatouille in the kitchen”, in Austin American-Statesman‎^[2]:

     Such attention to detail helped Deakes achieve his very own Ratatouille moment with a client at a corporate dining facility. He'd made her a butterbeer latte, as in the flavor from Harry Potter.

   • 2024, “Food, Nostalgia, and the “Ratatouille Moment””, in Science on Screen‎^[3]:

     Her research is centered around what she describes as the "Ratatouille Moment," recalling the moment in the film when the food critic has an experience of food-related nostalgia that transports him back to his childhood.

Often used in pop culture, food writing, and online discourse to describe a powerful nostalgic reaction to food or other sensory stimuli. The phrase is typically used humorously or sentimentally.

• flashback
• Proustian moment
• sensory recall

• flashback
• nostalgia

• Doshi, Hetvi. “Food Nostalgia and the ‘Ratatouille’ Moment.” Science on Screen, Cornell Cinema, 21 November 2024. scienceonscreen.org