It’s been a long time coming. And high time too. A festival of true, Calcutta-style Anglo-Indian food, showcasing some of the nuggets that have existed here for decades. Anglo-Indian food is not a very big, in-your-face piece in the jigsaw that is Calcutta cuisine but it is a rich, colourful and important one.

I got to know about the festival when I was sitting and having a club sandwich at The Bridge, the coffee shop at The Park. Along came Mr Sharad Dewan, their executive chef, on his rounds; he took a seat and we got talking.

“It starts on June 25,” he said. “We are not doing it alone. We’re getting some help and advice from a couple that has lived here for decades. It’s a special cuisine with very characteristic flavours and hues; we’ve to get as close as possible.”

This was music to my ears. No pun intended, though it is music and friendships made in school, that took me into the warm, hospitable and generous interiors of many an Anglo-Indian home, and I had the privilege of savouring and getting to know about their delightful cooking, which has a strong, personal appeal for many reasons.

Like my own eating habits, this cuisine shuns nothing. Every kind of meat, poultry, fish, seafood, fruit, vegetable, even fieldfare and game, is included in its all-embracing nature. It draws in any and every culture without inhibition, from England and the Continent to all parts of India and the Subcontinent and then, in a natural and pragmatic way, puts a signature on it.

I have a book about Anglo-Indian food, which is one of my most prized possessions, and for me it has an almost Biblical importance. Very old, printed in Drapers Lane; its vintage can be judged by the fact that in those days weights were reckoned in tolahs, chatkas, pows, seers and maunds and our currency was pies, pice, annas and rupees.

There are hundreds of recipes, ranging from Good Chicken Fricassie, Tongue Roast and Roast Turkey to Cow’s Trotter Soup and Sheep’s Head Broth to Hussaini Curry, Jhall Phrajee, Crab Curry and Pulbul Dolma to jams, jellies, cakes, toffees, chutneys, pickles and even Bengali sweets. I cannot think of a better representation of the variety of riches the cuisine stands for.

But the real humdinger of this story is when I got to know who was advising and helping The Park to put the festival together. None other than Mr and Mrs Rubin and Pamela Rebiero, people I have known for ages, and again it was music that brought us together. Rubin is a singer and his CV is staggering. There is probably not a nightclub on Chowringhee and Park Street and in Calcutta 16 where he has not performed; I only came into the picture after the golden era, but in the ’80s and ’90s I had a chance to do several concerts with him, under the leadership of my mentor in jazz, Mr Carlton Kitto.

Mrs Rebiero has done most of the hands-on assistance with this festival. Judging by the ecstacy a large number of us have experienced in their house, over the years, The Park has made a very judicious choice. They have billed the event, starting tomorrow and continuing till July 4, as “Then and Now”, the Anglo Indian Food Festival, Presented by Aunty Pamela and Chef Norman (of The Park).

It’s a smart menu, very nicely chosen, with firm favourites side by side with lesser-known but delicious dishes. Every item can be found in my superbook, which, in a way, is a testimonial to their vintage and authenticity.

Under soups there is the celebrated Mulligatawny and Tomato. The first is fully boiled chicken soup with curry spices plus onion, ginger and garlic. The second, a rich preparation flavoured with garlic and coriander and served with croutons fried in olive oil. For starters, the items chosen are signature ones; Stuffed Tomatoes — tomatoes stuffed with minced lamb then crumbed and fried, Potato Chops —mashed potato shaped around a stuffing of minced beef then crumbed and fried. And Beef Crumb Chops — slow cooked beef on the bone, crumb fried and served with a really spicy chilli chutney. Incidentally, the Stuffed Tomatoes are served with mint chutney and Potato Chops with onion marmalade. Continental learnings find expression in Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, Salmon Fish Fry with Tartare Sauce and Mesculine Salad and Vegetable Cutlets with Chunky Tomato Salsa.

Among the main course, Prawn Temperado is a dish aunty Pamela has included “because of my Goan Background” — a mellow curry with prawns, white pumpkin and coconut milk. What I like is that there doesn’t seem to be any compromise with the selection and one hopes, not with the preparation either. There’s Pork Vindaloo, Hussaini Curry with Tomato Rice, Pork Bhooni with Pepper Water, Beef Kofta Curry with Coconut Rice and Crab Curry — all-original humdingers and again a Continental touch with Vegetable Au Gratin.

Among the desserts, the ones that appeal to me because they suggest the fare to be found in the Rebiero household are Strawberry Jelly and Homemade Custard and Red Fruit Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. See you there.