Don’t speak Spanish and can’t quite figure out what this one is by the pictures? Sheep’s head soup! Another local dish at the San Pedro Markets in Cusco. Made from cutting a sheep’s head in half and letting it, and everything inside, cook in a broth with turnip and parsley. Only served until 11:00am, this is what the locals eat for breakfast.

‘Unfortunately’ I was unable to try this – what I’m sure was a delicious meal, as I arrived after 11:00am. A few friends however did get a chance to try it, and I managed to grab a couple of pictures and hear their opinion of the Cusco specialty.

When asked what it tasted like, one person replied:

“You know when you walk past a farm and it smells like sheep?…That’s exactly what it tastes like.”

Personally, I understand exactly what they are trying to say…I think. But if you can’t quite visualise it exactly, I spoke to a couple of other friends, Joe and Kim, who went one morning to have breakfast like the locals do.

“The sheep wasn’t to bad, but there wasn’t a whole lot of meat on the head, but as you can see it came with the ears on it, so that was a nice touch.”                    (See above picture).

Remember how I said that the soup is made with the head and everything that’s inside the head? Well, if you have a good look at the picture below, you can see exactly where the brain fits into the skull! If your ‘lucky’ enough, you may even get served up a bowl with a complimentary eyeball – or two. Yum…

“The broth had a bit of an odd taste to it, but I think that is just how they make it because when I had something else there it tasted the same. Other then that, there were a few different types of tatters in the broth. Pretty exciting stuff!”

So, if your ever in Cusco and feel like a local style breakfast, head down to San Pedro Markets. You will find this specialty in the ‘food court’ section of the warehouse, located in the far back left corner – and remember, ask for caldo de cabesa!

A big thanks to Joe and Kim for helping out on this one, providing their opinions and personal photos.