Cooking food and making music found an unlikely mediator to bring them together — football. To stoke the excitement over the ongoing World Cup, chef Pradip Rozario invited Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya to play the santoor as he wielded the spatula with multiple dishes on the flame.

The novel jugalbandi took place at Mio Amore, chef Rozario's Mediterranean restaurant in Mani Square on Monday which has been holding a World Cup food festival over the duration of the tournament. “As football unites the world, so does music and food,” said Bhattacharya, picking up his mallets to play Raga Kirwani.

As he played, the chef tried to match up by stirring the Oak-fried Seasonal Vegetables and Breast of Chicken with Melange of Bell Paper in Cream Sauce following the same rhythm, sometimes reciprocating in a sawal-jawab mode and then reaching a crescendo with the jhala on strings and a flambe in the pan. The performance ended with Rozario complimenting Bhattacharya’s final flourish in the tehai by pouring tea from a kettle into a cup in an elaborate gesture.

Chef Pradip Rozario flambees a dish watched by footballer Dipendu Biswas and dancer Sanchita Bhattacharya as Pt Tarun Bhattacharya plays the santoor. (Left) A dish cooked at the event. Pictures by Sudeshna Banerjee

Watching in admiration was footballer Dipendu Biswas, a resident of FD Block who is just back from Brazil. “Food is a point of passion among Brazilians as well. The restaurants would be full every evening with people having a ball. Such an event would have been appreciated there as well,” he said, sporting a batik print panjabi with his favourite player Lionel Messi’s illustration on it.

The food festival, which presents a choice of dishes from the participating nations, has been a success, Rozario said. “I planned the menu keeping the Bengali palette in mind.”

Thus despite the exotic origin or name of Poulet Roulade al Romeo, it is really what the French call Stuffed Chicken while Asado of Chile is Grilled Chicken (both are priced Rs 352). “Also Bengalis have a weakness for biryani. So I have kept Spanish Paella, which is a mixed seafood and meat rice (priced Rs 563),” the chef said.

Other than Asado, restaurant sources say Australian Chicken Wings and American Crumb Fried Chicken, both priced Rs 299, have become popular. “Among the main dishes, we are getting the maximum orders for a mixed grill platter from Honduras. It has a tiger prawn, two pieces of fish, two slices of chicken, pilaf and salad,” a steward said.

The chef himself recommends Japan’s Chicken Yakitori and Brazilian Acaraje (Rs 472).

But if you want to taste either the grilled chicken served on a skewer or the fried shrimp balls from Neymar’s country, you need to book a table by Saturday.

For Sunday, the restaurant will be serving a whole new menu focusing on just the dishes of the two nations battling it out for the World Cup.