Experience A Place, One Meal At A Time

Mumbai-based Authenticook is helping people connect with the diversity of India through dining experiences in local homes. A culinary tourism product which travel agents and DMCs can use to differeniate their itineraries

- Steena Joy

In 2014, six friends who were in Ladakh for a short holiday never thought that one meal would become a life changing experience. Reminiscing on that moment, Ameya Deshpande, co-founder, Authenticook, says, “We (six friends including Aneesh, Priyanka and myself) noticed that most of the food places in Leh market were serving pizzas, burgers and pastas and there was very little local food available. It was then that we thought to ourselves - what if we had an opportunity to just sit with a local family and have an authentic, traditional meal with them? It could have been the simplest of meals but there is so much we would have known about their way of life just by interacting with them and eating the food that they would normally eat.”

And thus was born Authenticook. The Mumbai-based company helps travellers get a taste of authentic homemade cuisine and that too, in the chef's homes. Deshpande adds, “India is blessed with a very rich cultural diversity and we believe this diversity can best be experienced through the medium of food. Imagine coming to Mumbai and enjoying a food experience with the original inhabitants of Mumbai, the Kolis (fisherfolk community) or going to Fort Kochi in Kerala and enjoying a cooking class with a local family in their 80 year-old beautiful, heritage home. We believe that the culinary diversity in India is unmatched and we want to introduce India on the global culinary map.”

The concept was the challenge