Cusco's food is Andean to its bones — corn in a dozen colours, potatoes in hundreds of varieties, cheese from the high pastures, and traditions that predate the conquest. The best way in is to structure a whole day around eating, starting where the city itself starts: the market.

Key facts

  • San Pedro Market, near the historic centre, is Cusco's great central market — busiest and freshest in the morning
  • Altitude (around 3,400 m) suppresses appetite at first; eat light early in your trip and save the feast days for later
  • Coca tea is the traditional altitude remedy, offered practically everywhere
  • Carry small notes and coins at the market; stalls rarely change large bills

Morning: juice and bread at San Pedro

Start at the juice aisle of San Pedro Market, where vendors stack pyramids of papaya, mango and passion fruit and blend them to order — the unofficial breakfast of Cusco. Wander from there past the cheese stalls, piled with pale wheels of Andean queso, and the bread sellers with their giant, sweet, frisbee-sized loaves of pan chuta, the famous bread of the nearby town of Oropesa. A hunk of chuta with fresh cheese is the region's foundational snack.

Mid-morning: corn, two ways

Track down choclo con queso — a steamed cob of the Sacred Valley's giant white corn, its kernels fat as thumbnails, served with a slab of cheese. Wash it down with chicha morada, the sweet, spiced purple-corn drink that is everywhere in Cusco. (Its fermented cousin, chicha de jora, is the ancient corn beer traditionally flagged in villages by a red plastic bag on a pole.)

Lunch: soup as a way of life

Andean lunches begin with soup, and Cusco's markets and family eateries serve definitive versions: caldo de gallina, a restorative hen broth with noodles and egg, or hearty quinoa soup. This is high-altitude comfort food, engineered by centuries of cold mornings.

Afternoon: chocolate and coffee

Peru grows superb cacao, and Cusco has embraced it — chocolate shops and workshop-cafes around the centre offer tastings and bean-to-bar demonstrations, an easy pleasure while your legs recover from the cobblestones. Peruvian single-origin coffee has had a similar renaissance; the cafes around the San Blas quarter take it seriously.

Evening: the Andean table

Dinner is where the highland classics parade: alpaca steak, leaner than beef with a delicate sweetness; lomo saltado, the beloved Chinese-Peruvian stir-fry of beef, tomatoes and fried potatoes; and for the committed, cuy — roast guinea pig, the pre-Hispanic festival dish that remains a delicacy in the region. Finish with a pisco sour, Peru's frothy national cocktail — one, at this altitude, is plenty.

Tip: Go to San Pedro hungry and early — by 9 a.m. the market is in full voice and everything is at its freshest. Point, smile and try whatever the senoras recommend; portions are generous and prices are typically small change.