What to Eat in Quito: Locro de Papa, Hornado, Empanadas de Viento and Canelazo

Highland cuisine in Quito (comida serrana) draws on native Andean tubers, heirloom varieties of corn (mote, tostado, and chulpi), tree tomatoes (tomate de arbol), and citrusy naranjilla fruit, enriched by Spanish pork-roasting traditions and highland dairy. At the same time, Quito sits just a few hours above the coastal and Amazonian provinces where prized Arriba Nacional Fine Aroma cacao has been cultivated for millennia. Pair your culinary stops with walks around Plaza San Francisco and Calle La Ronda or dinner in La Floresta.

Essential Highland Dishes to Order in Quito

• Locro de papa: Quito's signature cold-evening comfort dish is a thick, velvety soup made by simmering dense local chola potatoes with garlic, white onion, cumin, and golden achiote until part of the potato dissolves into the milk-enriched broth. Every bowl arrives crowned with generous slices of ripe avocado, cubes of fresh white cheese (queso fresco), crunchy toasted corn kernels, and a side dish of tree-tomato chilli sauce (aji de tomate de arbol).
• Hornado and Fritada with Llapingachos: At historic food halls such as Mercado Central and Mercado Inaquito, stallholders carve whole slow-roasted pigs marinated in beer, garlic, cumin, and achiote (hornado), prized for its shattering crisp skin (cuero reventado), or serve braised-and-seared pork chunks (fritada). Plates come accompanied by llapingachos (griddled mashed-potato patties stuffed with cheese), steamed white hominy (mote), sweet fried plantains (maduros), and tart pickled red-onion salad (agrio).
• Seco de chivo and Yahuarlocro: Slow-braised goat or lamb stew simmered in fermented chicha de jora, naranjilla juice, panela, and cilantro, served with yellow rice and avocado.

Calle La Ronda Snacks: Empanadas de Viento and Canelazo

On chilly evenings along Calle La Ronda, cafés fry plate-sized empanadas de viento ("wind empanadas"), whose thin wheat dough puffs into a hollow dome around melted white cheese and diced onion before being dusted with caster sugar. Wash them down with a steaming mug of canelazo, a fragrant highland infusion boiled from cinnamon sticks, cloves, raw sugarcane panela, and tart naranjilla or mora (Andean blackberry) juice, served either alcohol-free or spiked with sugarcane aguardiente.

Tasting Single-Origin Ecuadorian Fine Aroma Chocolate

During the day, stop at bean-to-bar chocolatiers on Plaza Grande and Plaza San Francisco to sample single-origin 70 to 85 percent bars crafted from heirloom Ecuadorian Nacional cacao.