Cuenca Food Walk: Mercado 10 de Agosto, Hornado & Andean Sweets
Tagesausflug
Kulinariktour
Standard
Departure point
→
Destination
Cuenca, Ecuador
Cuenca
1N (Teilnahmedauer)
Zu Fuß gehen (Verkehrsmittel)
English (Sprache)
Anzahl der Teilnehmer 0/8
0 booked
Tour description
Cuenca is a UNESCO colonial city in the southern Ecuadorian Andes, flatter and calmer than Quito, with three rivers, red tile roofs and one of the best market food halls in South America.
The Mercado 10 de Agosto is the centre of it. On the second floor, a row of women carve hornado - pork roasted whole overnight - to order, serving it with mote, the boiled hominy corn that Cuenca eats with everything, plus llapingachos, pickled onion and ají. You choose your plate by walking the row and pointing.
Downstairs, the fruit hall, and outside it the cascaritas vendors: pork skin blowtorched until it blisters, scraped and served in pieces with lime and salt, eaten standing up. Your guide will explain the corn culture here, which is genuinely deep - Cuenca has words for maize at half a dozen stages of ripeness.
We also eat mote pillo, hominy scrambled with egg and spring onion, and morocho, a warm milky drink made from cracked white corn with cinnamon and raisins, and finish with dulces, the convent sweets that Cuenca's nuns have made for centuries.
Small group, maximum 8 guests, entirely on foot on flat streets.
The Mercado 10 de Agosto is the centre of it. On the second floor, a row of women carve hornado - pork roasted whole overnight - to order, serving it with mote, the boiled hominy corn that Cuenca eats with everything, plus llapingachos, pickled onion and ají. You choose your plate by walking the row and pointing.
Downstairs, the fruit hall, and outside it the cascaritas vendors: pork skin blowtorched until it blisters, scraped and served in pieces with lime and salt, eaten standing up. Your guide will explain the corn culture here, which is genuinely deep - Cuenca has words for maize at half a dozen stages of ripeness.
We also eat mote pillo, hominy scrambled with egg and spring onion, and morocho, a warm milky drink made from cracked white corn with cinnamon and raisins, and finish with dulces, the convent sweets that Cuenca's nuns have made for centuries.
Small group, maximum 8 guests, entirely on foot on flat streets.
Meeting point:
View on map
Mercado 10 de Agosto, Calle Larga, Cuenca
We meet at the Calle Larga entrance to Mercado 10 de Agosto. Your guide will have a small sign with your name.
Detailed itinerary
Stop 1 - Mercado 10 de Agosto: The market's fruit and vegetable halls, with your guide on Andean corn, potatoes and the herbs used for the limpia cleansing rituals upstairs.
Stop 2 - Hornado on the second floor: Whole roast pork carved to order with crackling, mote hominy, llapingachos and pickled onion. You pick your plate by walking the row.
Stop 3 - Cascaritas: Pork skin blowtorched until it blisters and crackles, scraped and served in pieces with lime and salt, from a street vendor.
Stop 4 - Mote pillo: Hominy corn scrambled with egg, spring onion and milk - a Cuenca breakfast and the dish that explains this city's relationship with maize.
Stop 5 - Morocho and humitas: A warm drink of cracked white corn with milk, cinnamon and raisins, with a steamed corn parcel.
Stop 6 - Historic centre walk: The new cathedral, the flower market and Calle Larga, with your guide on Cuenca's colonial and Cañari layers.
Stop 7 - Dulces and coffee: Convent sweets - dulce de higo, quesadillas, alfajores - with Ecuadorian coffee to finish.
Stop 2 - Hornado on the second floor: Whole roast pork carved to order with crackling, mote hominy, llapingachos and pickled onion. You pick your plate by walking the row.
Stop 3 - Cascaritas: Pork skin blowtorched until it blisters and crackles, scraped and served in pieces with lime and salt, from a street vendor.
Stop 4 - Mote pillo: Hominy corn scrambled with egg, spring onion and milk - a Cuenca breakfast and the dish that explains this city's relationship with maize.
Stop 5 - Morocho and humitas: A warm drink of cracked white corn with milk, cinnamon and raisins, with a steamed corn parcel.
Stop 6 - Historic centre walk: The new cathedral, the flower market and Calle Larga, with your guide on Cuenca's colonial and Cañari layers.
Stop 7 - Dulces and coffee: Convent sweets - dulce de higo, quesadillas, alfajores - with Ecuadorian coffee to finish.
Tour price includes
• Small-group English-speaking local food guide
• All food and drink tastings listed in the itinerary
• One local drink at the final stop
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout the walk
• All taxes and service fees
• All food and drink tastings listed in the itinerary
• One local drink at the final stop
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout the walk
• All taxes and service fees
Tour price excludes
• Abholung und Rückfahrt zum Hotel, sofern nicht anders angegeben
• Zusätzliche Getränke außerhalb der enthaltenen Leistungen
• Persönliche Reiseversicherung
• Trinkgeld für den Guide (gern gesehen, aber nicht verpflichtend)
• Mahlzeiten und Einkäufe außerhalb des Programms
• Zusätzliche Getränke außerhalb der enthaltenen Leistungen
• Persönliche Reiseversicherung
• Trinkgeld für den Guide (gern gesehen, aber nicht verpflichtend)
• Mahlzeiten und Einkäufe außerhalb des Programms
Stornierungsrichtlinie
Kostenlose Stornierung bis zu 24 Stunden vor Beginn der Tour für eine vollständige Rückerstattung. Bei einer Stornierung innerhalb von 24 Stunden erfolgt keine Rückerstattung. Die Tour findet bei jedem Wetter statt; die Markthalle ist überdacht.
Weitere Hinweise
Runs daily at 09:30. The market is at its best in the morning.
Altitude: Cuenca sits at about 2,560 metres. That is mild compared with Cusco or La Paz but it is not nothing, particularly on your first day. We keep the pace easy and the route flat.
Safety: Ecuador is rated Level 2 and is under a nationwide state of emergency, but Cuenca carries no city-specific warning and is noticeably calmer than the coast. It is a comfortable city to walk in daylight. Read your own government's advice.
Currency: Ecuador uses the US dollar; the market is cash only.
Water: tap water is not drinkable. We provide bottled water.
Rain: the wet season runs January to May and is heaviest from March to May.
Cuy, roast guinea pig, is an Ecuadorian speciality but the roasters are on the roads out of town and are not walkable. Ask your guide and they will tell you where to go.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead. Vegetarian is straightforward via mote pillo, humitas, llapingachos and the fruit hall.
About 1.5 km of walking, largely flat - the easiest of our Andean tours.
Altitude: Cuenca sits at about 2,560 metres. That is mild compared with Cusco or La Paz but it is not nothing, particularly on your first day. We keep the pace easy and the route flat.
Safety: Ecuador is rated Level 2 and is under a nationwide state of emergency, but Cuenca carries no city-specific warning and is noticeably calmer than the coast. It is a comfortable city to walk in daylight. Read your own government's advice.
Currency: Ecuador uses the US dollar; the market is cash only.
Water: tap water is not drinkable. We provide bottled water.
Rain: the wet season runs January to May and is heaviest from March to May.
Cuy, roast guinea pig, is an Ecuadorian speciality but the roasters are on the roads out of town and are not walkable. Ask your guide and they will tell you where to go.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead. Vegetarian is straightforward via mote pillo, humitas, llapingachos and the fruit hall.
About 1.5 km of walking, largely flat - the easiest of our Andean tours.
Detailed price list
| Guest type | Price |
|---|---|
| Erwachsene | $45 |
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