We begin at a local restaurant serving dishes like bolón de queso, a hearty green plantain ball packed with cheese and traditionally eaten for breakfast throughout much of coastal Ecuador. Alongside it sits corviche, a cassava fritter stuffed with seasoned fish whose origins trace back to the country's Pacific coast. Together they tell the storey of a nation connected by food despite being divided by mountains, coastlines, and rainforest.

From there, we dive into the organised chaos of Mercado 3 de Noviembre. Vendors call out to customers, soup pots bubble away, and recipes perfected over decades continue to attract loyal locals. We'll sample encebollado, Ecuador's beloved tuna soup. Originally a fisherman's breakfast, it has evolved into a national institution enjoyed at every hour of the day. Nearby, succulent hornado roasted pork emerges, its crisp skin and tender meat earning it legendary status throughout the Andes. A freshly fried empanada de viento, puffed with hot air and dusted with sugar, completes one of the country's favourite market snacks.

Our next stop takes us to Mercado 10 de Agosto, another cornerstone of Cuencano food culture.Here, centuries of Andean culinary tradition are still alive and well. We'll try mote sucio, a simple but deeply satisfying combination of hominy corn and pork fat, alongside tortillas de trigo con queso, pan-fried wheat flatbreads filled with local cheese. Nearby, tortillas de choclo showcase the importance of corn in Andean cooking, transforming fresh kernels into delicate pancakes that have nourished communities for generations. Among the market stalls, we'll see first-hand why Cuenca's mercados remain the city's true dining rooms.

No exploration of Cuenca would be complete without diving deeper into the cuisine of the Andes. At two different local eateries, we'll sample traditional dishes that rarely appear on tourist menus. Chumal is a steamed corn cake wrapped and cooked using techniques that predate modern kitchens. Tamal de zambo combines corn dough with roasted Andean squash seeds, while mote pata transforms hominy and pork trotter into a rich, comforting soup that has long been associated with celebrations and family gatherings. These are the dishes locals grow up eating and often miss most when they're away from home.

Before the tour concludes, we'll make a brief stop at a local chocolate museum to collect one final treat: a passion fruit chocolate truffle that combines Ecuador's world-famous cacao with the bright tropical flavours found throughout the country. We finish the only way you can in Cuenca: with something sweet. A cloud-like espumilla de guayaba, whipped from fruit and meringue, offers a light and refreshing finale, while the city's famous quesadilla pastry provides a fitting farewell. Despite the name, this buttery local pastry has nothing to do with its Mexican counterpart and everything to do with Cuenca's baking traditions. There's more to this Cuenca food tour than the dishes themselves. It's a discovery and understanding of the markets, traditions, and everyday rituals that define life in Ecuador's highlands. Whilst it's possible to wander these streets and markets alone, you'd be hard-pushed to uncover these stories, flavours, and local favourites without our tastemaker guides.