Lima: Peruvian Cooking Class & Surquillo Market with Pickup

Haggling for fish at dawn, then cooking it for lunch in Lima

You visit Surquillo market with a guide, learn to negotiate for fresh ingredients, then cook ceviche, causa, and pisco sour in a working kitchen. Includes the meal you prepare, bottled water, and hotel pickup. Small groups, no cooking experience needed.

Step-by-step itinerary

Local market visit and cooking class

• Visit Surquillo local market
• Learn about Peruvian products
• Pick fresh ingredients
• Start cooking class
• Prepare ceviche and causa
• Make pisco sour cocktail

The experience

Hands moving across wet ice, pointing at the catch that came in that morning. That's how you start this day in Lima. You're at Surquillo market before the crowds thin out, walking the stalls with a guide who knows which vendors will let you taste before you buy, where the ceviche-grade fish actually lives, and how to spot the difference between yesterday's catch and today's. The market fills up early, and the energy is real: vendors calling out prices, the smell of cilantro and lime, people squeezing avocados. You pick out what you'll cook later, learning the small negotiations that get you a better price and fresher produce than the tourists who just point and pay.

After the market, you head to the kitchen (a real one, not a demo space), and start on the three dishes that define Peruvian food right now. Ceviche comes first: you're cutting the fish you just bought, understanding why the acid matters more than the heat, tasting it as you build the layers. Then causa, the potato dish that looks simple until you realize the technique is everything. By the time you're shaking a pisco sour, you've moved from watching to doing, and the guide is there to catch the mistakes that teach you something. The whole cooking class runs about three hours, and you eat what you made: a proper two-course meal, not a tasting spoon.

Hotel pickup is included, so you don't navigate Lima's traffic yourself or hunt for the address. You get a certificate and the recipes at the end, which matters more than it sounds when you're home and trying to remember the proportions. The class runs in small groups, which means you're not in a line of thirty people waiting for a turn at the stove.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup, a guided tour of Surquillo market with tips on selecting and negotiating for fresh Peruvian ingredients, a hands-on cooking class where you prepare ceviche, causa, and pisco sour, a two-course meal of the dishes you make, bottled water throughout, a certificate, and printed recipes to take home.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 12:30

GroupUp to 12

Live guideEnglish and Spanish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 12 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortPublic transport nearby

Operated by Luchito's Peruvian Cooking Class

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to learn Peruvian cooking from someone who knows the market and the kitchen, and you'd rather not arrange transport or figure out where to source the right fish: the guide and the pickup handle both.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and Spanish.

Is this suitable for people with no cooking experience?

Yes, it's suitable for all physical fitness levels and designed for beginners. The guide teaches each step.

What exactly do you cook?

Ceviche, causa (a Peruvian potato dish), and pisco sour (a cocktail). You eat the ceviche and causa as a two-course meal.

Does the price include hotel pickup?

Yes, transportation and hotel pickup are included.

Can you choose what to cook, or is it set?

The three dishes (ceviche, causa, and pisco sour) are set. You choose the fresh ingredients at the market.

Is lunch included?

Yes, a two-course meal made from what you cook is included, plus a pisco cocktail.