A tourist named Alex, currently travelling across India, has taken the internet by storm after posting a humorous yet fascinated account of his visit to the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland. Known as the “Festival of Festivals,” Hornbill draws thousands of visitors every year with its vibrant display of tribal culture, food, dance, and traditions. But for Alex, the highlight turned out to be something he least expected-the food menu outside a local diner.
In his Instagram reel, Alex narrates how the menu first appeared completely normal, listing familiar dishes like pork curry, butter chicken, dal makhani and other Indian staples. “It all started off so normal,” he says, panning the camera across the board. “I thought, okay… nothing crazy.”
From comfort food to creepy-crawlies
Then came the twist. As he scrolled further down the menu, the list suddenly turned adventurous: silkworm larvae, snails, grasshoppers, spiders, porcupine skin, and finally, cat meat. The surprised traveller burst into laughter, calling it “the craziest menu I’ve ever seen in my life.”
In a playful tone, he even addressed the last item with a mock-serious question, “Whoever’s eating a cat, what are you doing in life, man?”
Netizens react
The clip has since gone viral, with thousands of netizens reacting with equal parts shock and amusement.
One user wrote, "welcome to India northeast Nagaland." Another user commented, "In Nagaland, they eat anything and everything. You can check out the Mao or BOC market to see what all they sell. It’s crazy!"
Why these foods are normal in Nagaland and the North-East
While Alex’s reaction captures the perspective of an outsider, the foods listed on the menu reflect long-standing culinary traditions of tribal communities in Nagaland and across India’s North-East. For centuries, tribes in the region have relied on nature for sustenance, consuming insects and wild animals not as exotic novelties but as culturally rooted, protein-rich food sources.
Insects like silkworms, grasshoppers and even spiders are considered delicacies and are valued for their nutritional benefits. Porcupine skin and snails, too, form part of indigenous diets shaped by availability of local resources, climate, and ancestral practices. Unlike mainstream Indian cuisine, which tends to avoid such ingredients, tribal food cultures embrace them as part of daily life.
Alex’s astonishment offers a reminder of how diverse India’s food landscapes truly are. For tourists, the Hornbill Festival often becomes a doorway into new and unexpected flavours. For locals, it is simply a celebration of who they are.
