Cusco Culinary Experience

On the Cusco Culinary Experience tour, a Peruvian chef will show you how to make some of Peru’s best-known dishes. Choose between a 9 a.m. lunch class and a 3 p.m. dinner class. Both classes include an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. You’ll also get two traditional drinks (one non-alcoholic and one cocktail). All of the instructions are easy enough for beginner chefs.

Before the cooking begins, your tour will start with a visit to the San Pedro market, one of the largest and most popular markets in Cusco. This market is a colorful place, with rows of stalls piled high with local fruits. Back at the kitchen, your cooking class will include a fruit tasting. And as part of your cooking instruction, your guide will show you the ins and outs of a traditional Andean kitchen.

In the same building, you’ll get to tour a chichería. This is where local brewers produce chicha, an old recipe for beer made from corn. The Inca considered this drink sacred, and to this day many consider the flavor to be a religious experience (although it may take some getting used to).

For lunch class, the chef will show you how to prepare ají de gallina. Ají de gallina consists of stewed chicken with a rich, peppery sauce. Ají peppers, which are very popular in Peruvian cooking, give the chicken quite a kick. In the lunch class you’ll also get to make ceviche, which consists of fresh, raw seafood marinated in citrus juice.

If you opt for the dinner class, you’ll learn how to make lomo saltado. This dish showcases the culinary influence of Chinese immigrants on Peruvian cooking. The Chinese brought soy sauce with them, which is one of the main flavors in this dish. Meat marinated with soy sauce and vinegar gets stir-fried with tomatoes, onions, and a splash of vinegar, for a savory meal that packs an umami punch. Lomo saltado is served on top of rice, another import from China.

Each class will include two drinks: a cool glass of non-alcoholic chicha morada, and a pisco sour cocktail. Chicha morada, just like the fermented chicha beer, is made from cooked corn. “Morada” means purple, which references the purple color of this native corn. You can prepare this drink much like a tea, stewing the corn kernels in hot water with cinnamon, clove, and sugar. Once the mixture cools, it’s ready to drink. Pisco sour is the official cocktail of Peru. It combines pisco, a brandy made from grapes, with fresh lime and a foamy egg white topping.

This cooking class introduces you to some of the most popular dishes in Peru, and gives you the information you need to recreate the dishes once you return home. Even if you're not an aspiring chef, this tour will provide an entertaining meal, paired with refreshing drinks and good company.