Cuenca Table Food Tour with 15+ Tastings｜Ecuador

Our Cuenca food tour takes you deep into the city's bustling market culture for 15+ tastings, exploring the flavours, traditions, and stories that have shaped Ecuador's Andean highlands. While many visitors come for Cuenca's colonial churches and cobbled streets, locals know the city's true heartbeat lies within its mercados.

We begin at Mercado 9 de Octubre, where the scent of fresh bread, simmering drinks, and sizzling griddles fills the air. Here, we'll sample golden wheat flatbreads stuffed with Andean cheese, sweetcorn pancakes that trace their roots back to pre-Columbian civilizations, and buttery local biscuits paired with a steaming cup of morocho, a comforting drink made from cracked corn, milk, and cinnamon.

From there, we board Cuenca's modern tram and glide through a city where centuries-old traditions continue to thrive alongside modern life. Back on the streets, we'll stop at a local vendor for some of Ecuador's most beloved comfort foods. Expect papas con cuero, a rich combination of potatoes, pork skin, and peanut sauce, alongside cheese-filled bolón and corviche, a cassava fritter stuffed with seasoned fish that originated on Ecuador's Pacific coast.

Our journey continues to Mercado 3 de Noviembre, one of the city's most celebrated food markets. Here we'll dive into encebollado, Ecuador's famous tuna soup, before sampling hornado, slow-roasted pork with perfectly crisp skin. No visit would be complete without an empanada de viento, a light, airy pastry that arrives fresh from the fryer and dusted with sugar.

At Mercado 10 de Agosto, we'll discover dishes that have nourished Cuencanos for generations. Mote pillo combines hominy corn and scrambled eggs into one of the city's signature dishes, while mote sucio showcases the simple but irresistible pairing of corn and pork fat. These humble recipes tell the story of the Andes better than any museum exhibit ever could.

As the tour winds down, we'll make a few final stops for local favourites. Sip a refreshing glass of traditional pitima water, sample baked coconut sweets, and enjoy a flaky quince-filled empanada before saying goodbye to Cuenca's remarkable food scene.

There's more to this tour than the food itself. It's a journey through the markets, traditions, and everyday rituals that define life in the Ecuadorian Andes. While it's possible to visit these markets independently, you'd be hard-pressed to uncover the stories, characters, and flavours that our tastemaker guides bring to life.