Surquillo Market

Mercado N.1 de Surquillo sits across the expressway from Miraflores and is the market Lima cooks use: aisles of fruit from the coast, the sierra and the jungle - lucuma, chirimoya, granadilla, camu camu, aguaymanto - dozens of potato varieties, ají amarillo, rocoto and panca fresh and dried, herbs including huacatay and chincho, fish counters with the morning's catch, and the pastes, grains and dried goods that make Peruvian cooking work. Upstairs and around the edges are counters serving ceviche, chicharrón, caldo and set lunches at market prices, which is the real reason to go at midday. Several Lima cooking schools and food tours start here. It is a working market with narrow aisles, wet floors and no concessions to visitors, and it is a short walk over the footbridge from the Miraflores hotels.

What you actually see

• The produce - coastal, highland and Amazonian fruit and dozens of potatoes.
• The peppers - ají amarillo, rocoto and panca, fresh, dried and as paste.
• The lunch counters - ceviche, chicharrón and set menús at market prices.
• The trade - the market Lima's cooks and food tours actually use.

When to go

Year-round. Mornings for produce and fish; midday for the food counters. One to two hours. It quiets down considerably by mid-afternoon.

Honest expectations

A working market - wet floors, narrow aisles, no signage for visitors. Ceviche at market counters is fine at lunchtime and unwise later. Pickpocketing happens in the crowd. Prices are not always the local ones if you are obviously a visitor.

Nearby

Miraflores is across the footbridge; the Mercado Central is in the historic centre.