Was nice to meet and feed so many legends at Cannes: Manu Chandra

When chef Manu Chandra was invited to the Cannes Film Festival this year to cater for the India Pavilion, his first thought was to “create something that would be appealing from the word go”. “I felt deeply honoured when I received the call. I’ve dabbled in confluence menus before and I’ve always spoken about dabbling in Indian food in myriad ways. So it came naturally to me, but I wanted a good representation of the country in the hors d’oeuvres that were to be served at the India Pavilion,” he tells us.

When Chandra sent across his menu for the pavilion, it was so well received by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that he was asked to cater for more than just the pavilion. “They asked me to cater for the inaugural dinner. I wanted to showcase Rajasthan, so I married that with the French techniques,” he adds.

While the India Pavilion menu included items like paniyaram madeleines accompanied by podi and coconut chutney, the menu for inaugural dinner included items like pyaaz ki kachori en croute with chutney and crème fraîche. He says, “It was nice to meet and feed so many legends at Cannes. It’s a different feeling. When you’re running a restaurant, people come and appreciate you, but here, you are representing the entire country. So when you get appreciated, it feels good.”