FLOYD'S WEEK ON CALCUTTA

When I stay at home, I mostly watch cricket on TV. But the other day, a dull match was going on between India and England. So,I started surfing the channels and came across Floyd's week on Discovery Travel and Living. I got stuck at that serial as Keith Floyd was cooking Dahi Fish and Chicken Curry in front of Victoria Memorial. I was of the notion that Bengali food takes an awful lot of time to cook. But, travel chef Floyd asserted that Bengali food is the fastest to cook. With his seasoned hands, he cooked the dishes so casually and elegently. Floyd then boarded a tram and went to a Rossogulla manufacturing unit and discussed about the sweet-tooth of the Bengalies. With a sweet winter sun on his back, he took a misti-paan in his mouth and travelled to Burrow-bazaar, Princep Ghat, Flower market,etc. and arrived in Maidan. He prepared his setup to cook veg, prawn and chicken barbecue for the orphaned rugby players Bablu,Sujoy and others. I have heard about barbecue earlier but this is the first time I saw how the item is being prepared. To make a barbecue, the pieces are first stewn on a thin stick and are then marinated with separate sauces for veg, prawn and chicken. After 1.5 hrs, the excess sauce is removed from the unit and are placed in a flat oven to be grilled and fried simultaneously. The rugby players were very happy after eating the barbecues with paratha. They bid farewell to Floyd after singing "Coffee House-er sei addada aaj aar nei...". Next Floyd came to Taj Bengal hotel and cooked two exotic dishes conjured up by bengalies- Paturi Macchi and Chingri Malai Curry. I remembered the dishes then and there but Floyd mixed the ingredients so fast and casually, I forgot the composition when the program ended.