How Local Marketplace and Cooking Class Look Like

A trip to Ecuador is never complete without a visit to the local marketplace and a cooking class. This food tour doesn’t required a whole day. It takes around 4 or 5 hours. I recommend doing it in the morning, but you can do it in the afternoon too.

You will start exploring Sangolqui, 15 kilometers southeast of Quito. The town has the most popular local market in Pichincha province. People used to come from different parts of the capital and other provinces to buy groceries and animals. Sangolqui was a business meeting point for the people of the city and the towns outside of Quito. The market runs all week, but on Thursdays and Sundays, it expands from three dedicated market squares to fill much of the town.

What is the local market and cooking class? First, we pick you up from your hotel in Quito and take you to the local market in Sangolqui. The market has three areas where they sell fruits, vegetables, and typical dishes to eat there or to go. The third area is where people sell farm animals such as guinea pigs, chickens, rabbits, and more.

After visiting the Sangolqui market, you will taste a little bit of the most famous dish in Sangolqui, “Hornado”. It is pork in a rustic oven. The plate has potato tortilla, hornado, avocado, lettuce, and agrio. Agrio is a sweet liquid with chicha (an indigenous drink).

Another place to taste is a small neighborhood one-way street, and along both sides are restaurants dedicated to roasting guinea pig.

How Local Marketplace and Cooking Class Look Like

Then you will go to Maria’s house to cook. You will make any dish chosen beforehand, or Maria will recommend it. Two dishes will be made by you. Have lunch or dinner in a nice environment. At the next stop, you will visit an ice cream store where it is made with six  different flavors, such as guinea pig, mushroom, crab, grasshopper, fritada, and catzo (beetle). Yes!! You won’t believe the great taste of these ice creams. You should taste them! In the next post, I will talk more about these ice creams and the enterprising woman who had the magnificent idea of making these sweet and delicious products.

I will just write and tell you that the dishes are delicious, but you should come to check if this is real. More photos of this common ice cream and meals can be found on our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/udestplor/?hl=es

If you are looking for things to do in Quito, check out this option: Quito Local Market Food Tour