Mercado Modelo de Chiclayo

The Mercado Modelo fills several blocks in the middle of Chiclayo and functions as the trading floor for the Lambayeque valleys. The produce is the north coast's own: limes by the sack, ají chillies fresh and dried, duck and goat for the region's rice dishes, dried and salted fish from the coast, and loche, the aromatic squash that gives northern cooking its particular smell. One section, known locally as the herbalists' aisle, sells dried plants, resins, shells, cactus and amulets used in northern folk practice, and it is the part outsiders come to see. Cooked-food counters around the edges serve the local plates from mid-morning.

What you actually see

• The herbalists' aisle - dried plants, resins, shells and amulets in dense stalls.
• Loche and northern chillies - the squash and ají varieties specific to this coast.
• The duck and rice counters - the ingredients behind arroz con pato and its relatives.
• King Kong - the layered Lambayeque biscuit filled with manjarblanco, sold by the slab.

When to go

Mornings, without exception. The market is at full pitch from around seven and starts winding down in the early afternoon, and the cooked-food counters serve their best around midday. It runs every day of the week. Weekends are the busiest and the most crowded, which is either the point or the problem depending on your tolerance.

Honest expectations

It is a working market, not a tidy one: crowded aisles, wet floors in the meat and fish rows, and a strong smell in the fish section by late morning in the heat. Photography in the herbalists' aisle is not always welcome, so ask first. Opening prices for outsiders are high and expected to be negotiated. The streets around it are congested and awkward to move through with luggage.

Nearby

Lambayeque and the Sipán museum are twelve kilometres north; Túcume beyond.