Mote is a food made by cooking corn in a clay pot and firewood. It is consumed everywhere in the city of Cuenca, and can be found in the different markets, fairs and neighbourhood shops. It is present at the table of Cuenca's families in both urban and rural areas, accompanying people's daily lives and their ritual and festive celebrations. It is used to prepare dishes such as motepillo, motepata or as a garnish for roast guinea pig and locro de papas, among others.

Chumales are a type of bread made from tender corn (known as choclo), cheese, butter, eggs, aniseed, sugar cane liquor and other ingredients. It is characterised for being a food wrapped in its own tender husk and then steamed. It is eaten daily and can be found in various eateries in and around the city, usually with coffee or chocolate. Since its origin, it has been kept on a par with maize, thanks to the transmission of knowledge from generation to generation. This food maintains a richness of symbolism and identity in both the urban and rural parts of the city.

The Locro de Papa is a semi-thick stew made with two varieties of this Andean tuber, one for thickening (papa chaucha), because it is starchy and soft, and the other for eating (papa chola) because of its chewiness. Other ingredients are cream, milk, salt and achiote (annatto). In Cuenca, the ideal accompaniments of this dish are pieces of fresh cheese, pieces of avocado and mote (cooked corn).

An incredibly tasty and typical local dish that many travellers rave about is Motepillo, which is prepared with "mote" (corn cooked over firewood), eggs from free-range chickens and other ingredients grown in the city's vegetable gardens. Each family has its own recipe. 

Roast guinea pig with potatoes is a hallmark of Cuenca's cuisine because it contains two essential elements of the livestock and agriculture of the Andes: the guinea pig and the potato; in addition, both have a high nutritional value and are consumed at all festivals and on special community occasions such as sowing seeds, harvesting, minga, marriages, baptisms and on festivals like Carnival and Christmas. There are several specialised restaurants that offer this exquisite dish.  

In Cuenca, the Motepata is an emblematic dish of the festive food of the city, especially in the celebrations of the Cuenca carnival. The Motepata represents the gastronomic crossbreeding of the food of the native peoples and the European influences, as well as a series of symbols of Andean wisdom, both in the sowing, harvesting, preparation and consumption, always in family and community unity. 

Since pre-Hispanic times, the Chicha de jora (sprouted corn) has been considered a sacred drink based on corn and was reserved for ritual ceremonies offered to the Pacha Mama or Mother Earth, which had repercussions on the cultural practices of the Andean peoples, including their drinking and eating rituals. Chicha de jora is a characteristic drink of the area and known as the drink of the gods.