Indian culinary genius shines in Cannes Film Festival
On Wednesday, chef Varun Totlani of Masque prepared a five-course menu for the inaugural dinner at the Cannes Film Festival. His aim was to celebrate the food of India by highlighting different regions. There was a cold thukpa-style dish topped with trout roe as a nod to Ladakh and Kashmir; chaat with tender sorghum grains mixed with corn mousse as a hat-tip to Maharashtra and Gujarat; and sweet potato prepared khad-style (pit cooking) by borrowing inspiration from Rajasthan.
Today he will be catering for guests visiting the Bharat Pavilion with live stations and pass-around snacks, like Bengal’s Bandel cheese on toast. These food experiences at the festival helmed by renowned Indian chefs in partnership with Godawan single malt have become a talking point. It was kicked off by Manu Chandra in 2022, who designed an India-meets-France menu with items like paniyaram madeleines.
In 2023, chef Prateek Sadhu was cooking at Cannes and paid tribute to the International Year of Millets. Last week, Totlani spoke to Mint about his plan for the menus. He seemed relaxed and well-prepared.
A team of five from Masque, including Totlani, travelled to Cannes to offer a gastronomic experience to members and guests of the Indian Embassy, international dignitaries as well as celebrities. The dinner began with a cold, refreshing soup-style course. Inspired by Ladakh, it had momos stuffed with coconut malai and dipped in passion fruit thukpa.
It was topped with salt-cured, bright orange trout roe that the team had carried with them from India. Totlani says, “This dish gets your palate going for the rest of the meal." The second course was chaat. An Indian meal, Totlani believes, is incomplete without this.
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