means A French Provençal stew of summer vegetables — typically eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic — slow-cooked in olive oil and herbs.

from From French, built on the verb 'touiller,' to stir or toss together (itself from Latin 'tudiculare,' to stir or crush). The 'rata-' prefix is the slangy, slightly mocking part — old French military and worker slang where 'rata' meant a rough, chunky stew of whatever was on hand. So the name fairly translates to something like 'stir-up' or 'tossed-together mess,' a humble word for a humble dish — the Niçoise kitchen later turned that mess into Provence on a plate.