Cusco Street Food: What to Eat, Where and When

Street Food in Cusco Runs on a Clock

Cusco’s street food changes with the hours. Early in the morning, carts sell hot drinks and soups to people on their way to work. At midday, families eat a set lunch, the menú, at markets and small restaurants. When the sun drops behind the mountains, around six in the evening, the grills come out and the corners near the markets and plazas fill with smoke and the smell of anticuchos.

• Morning: hot quinoa drink with apple, purple-corn api with a fried pastel, and caldo de gallina (hen broth).
• Midday: a two-course menú at a market counter, with soup first and a main plate after.
• Evening: anticuchos, picarones, papa rellena, tamales and a cup of hot emoliente.

Anticuchos: The Evening Skewer

Anticuchos are skewers of beef heart marinated in ají panca chili, vinegar, garlic and cumin, then grilled over charcoal. Beef heart sounds strong, but it eats like a tender, lean steak. They usually come with a boiled potato or a piece of choclo, the big-kernel Andean corn, and a spoon of spicy ají sauce on the side. Look for the vendor fanning a charcoal grill, not the one reheating skewers on a hot plate.

Picarones, Papa Rellena and Tamales

Picarones are rings of sweet potato and squash dough, fried to order and soaked in chancaca, a warm cane-sugar syrup spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Eat them standing at the cart, while they are still crisp. Papa rellena is mashed potato wrapped around a savory filling and fried until golden, and many cooks make a vegetarian version. Andean tamales are corn dough steamed in corn husks, sometimes plain, sometimes filled with pork or chili.

• Ask for picarones “recién hechos” (just made) and watch them go into the oil.
• Papa rellena is the easiest vegetarian street food to find: ask “¿hay sin carne?”
• Tamales sell out early in the evening; buy them before 8 PM.

Emoliente: The Drink on Every Corner

Emoliente is a hot herbal drink sold from tricycle carts across Cusco. Each vendor has a recipe, but most start with toasted barley and flaxseed, add a mix of herbs, and finish with lime and a little sugar. People in Cusco drink it to warm up and to settle the stomach after a meal. It is boiled, served hot and costs very little: one of the safest and most local things you can drink on the street.

The best stall in Cusco is the one with a line of locals and a cook who never stops moving.

Specials Worth Planning Around

Some of Cusco’s most famous dishes belong to a day or a season. Adobo cusqueño, pork slowly cooked in a chili and chicha marinade, is a Sunday morning tradition. Chicharrón, fried pork with mint, onions and potatoes, draws families to the town of Saylla on weekends. Chiriuchu, a cold platter of guinea pig, chicken, sausage, seaweed and corn, is the dish of Corpus Christi in June. Cuy, roast guinea pig, is best eaten in towns known for it, such as Tipón.

How to Order Like a Local

Street food in Cusco is cheap and paid in cash, so carry soles in coins and small notes. Most vendors do not speak English, but pointing and a few words go a long way. Eat at the stall rather than carrying food away, because that is where it is hottest and freshest.

• Carry coins and notes of S/10 or less; vendors rarely have change for S/100.
• “¿Cuánto es?” means how much is it; “uno, por favor” gets you one.
• Ask for the sauce on the side, “el ají aparte”, until you know how hot it is.
• If you would rather have a guide choose the stalls, our night food tour visits the vendors we trust most.