Food & Beer Culture

At a chichería, you eat whatever the family is cooking, and drink chicha alongside it. The place is often also called a picantería, named for the spicy dishes served there. On the plate you'll find cuy, the Andean guinea pig, choclo with cheese, boiled corn on the cob with large kernels, or quinoa soup. The light acidity of the chicha cuts through fat and heat, while its sweetness balances the rocoto chili.

The biggest festival is Corpus Christi in early summer. Cusco carries the saints' statues from the city's churches to the cathedral on the Plaza de Armas. The occasion calls for chiri uchu, a cold plate of meat, corn, and cheese, and of course chicha. It's a family celebration, not staged for tourists, and onlookers should keep their distance and ask before taking photographs.

On June 24th, Cusco celebrates Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun. The reenactment staged on the edge of the city recalls the ancient Inca festival, where chicha was the most important drink. In everyday life, it instead accompanies house-building, harvests, and family celebrations. In the Andes, drinking together also means pouring first for the guest and for the earth.

Cusqueña belongs more to modern everyday life. People drink it with grilled meat, with trout from the mountain lakes, or simply after a hike. Small establishments in Cusco show how the two worlds mix: on one side stands the brewery's beer, on the other the chichería's jug. Anyone drinking at altitude shouldn't skimp on time or water.