Travel is all about experiences. Some travel to see places, some to shop and some only to learn about new cultures and traditions. Then there are those who travel to taste new foods and learn more about the people and their cuisine. JrnyOn is a new travel platform that was established in 2023 dedicated to curating premium travel experiences across the globe, keeping in mind the varied interests of travellers.

Guwahati fish market | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

On one such trip, I got a chance to be a tourist in my own city — Guwahati. As a local disguised as a tourist, I wondered what I would learn or get to experience anew. Since this trip was exclusively a culinary trail, I knew there would be a lot of eating and learning. This was JrnyOn’s first culinary trip to the Northeast in collaboration with Chef Thomas Zacharias. 

We started with a team bonding exercise through a quiz centred around food and ingredients.   Chef Thomas made it interactive by educating us about certain ingredients, the markets and the cooking techniques of the Northeast. The session was to give the travellers an insight on what to expect in terms of food and flavours. He spoke about the natural souring agents like elephant apple, and native variety of lemon and hog plums. The visit to the markets was planned to us give a better idea of the fresh ingredients, especially the different herb varieties like fish coriander, and saw tooth coriander among others..

At Khweng village | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

The first dinner was at Kashmiri Nath’s home in Guwahati. Kashmiri is a home chef who prepares elaborate Assamese meals. As she introduced one dish after the other, she explained the use of ingredients in each dish. Each dish was prepared with fresh herbs and spices and had everyone wondering about cooking techniques and flavours that were possible without the use of spices. At Kashmiri’s home, guests were treated to over 10 varieties of dishes including dips and pickles.She also introduced us to sai moda — a rice beverage made by the Mising community. It is a traditional beverage which the Mising people have been making for decades.. Our interaction with Kashmiri made a lot of us take notes on Assamese dishes; especially the black sesame chicken curry and rice varietal it would go well with, apart from the popular joha rice.

Guests being served Assamese food by Kashmiri at her home | Photo Credit: Special arrangements

Bara Bazar

The Guwahati experience also included a visit to Kachari Ghat, the most popular fish and vegetable market, on the banks of Brahmaputra. The busy market with fish brought to the bank by boats and fish vendors queueing up to buy their lot was a fresh experience for many first-timers.

Foraged shoots as sides in Meghalaya is a common thing

As we proceeded towards our final destination, Meghalaya, we first stopped at Ri Bhoia district, where we visited the picturesque village of Khweng — a hub of sustainability, community-driven conservation and agrobiodiversity. Here, the locals took us on a biodiversity walk to discover foraged ingredients and sustainable food systems. At Khweng the villagers are self sufficient in terms of food. All of it including fish and meat comes from their own farms. Consumption of micro-nutrient-rich wild plants like nettle, sow thistle, and fish mint is a regular practise. The guests were shown Ñiangming leaves, a herb the community relies on as remedies for toothache and cuts, and stings and other herbs like Jarem/Sia-lon that they consume to keep blood pressure under control.

Nambi Marak | Photo Credit: Prabalika M Borah

JrnyOn does not just create holidays for memories and experiences. They facilitate interactions with the locals, with a focus on their culture and food. For the Meghalaya food trip, they collaborated with Northeast Society for Agroecology Support (Nesfas), with Nambi Marak (first runner up at MasterChef India Season 8, ). Apart from insights into the food, especially the use of fermented fish, soya, bamboo and khar (a natural alkaline solution)— the magic liquid from the Northeast region — there was a cooking session followed by feasting.

Cooking with Nambi

Nambi Marak conducted a quick cooking demo on Garo food in Shillong at the Nesfas office. This included cooking without oil, meat gravy with rice flour, fish curry with dried sorrel leaves, and so on. Nambi also introduced the group to a no-egg cake made with rice flour. With meat and fish, nose to tail is the way to cook food. It is also not difficult to find vegetarian and vegan options if one thinks beyond tofu and mock meats.

The enriching part of the Assam-Meghalaya food trail was the visit to local markets. Sanjith Mukund, CEO of JrnyOn, explained, “We’ve observed that travellers passionate about food, wellness, and adventure tend to form deeper connections with the destinations they explore. This desire for meaningful engagement has driven us to craft experiences that are immersive and inclusive, ensuring local communities play an active role and benefit from these journeys. By partnering with local cooperatives, visiting markets, enjoying home-cooked meals, and learning traditional crafts, our travellers experience the true essence of each destination.”

The writer was in Assam and Meghalaya on the invitation of JrnyOn