Arequipa's cuisine emerged from a fusion of the Andes and European roots of a society that succeeded in producing an exceptional culinary practice.

The Arequipa "Picanteras" Association extols the virtues of its ancestral products and basic procedures born and bred at the traditional "picantería" outlets in Arequipa, such as black Creole rice, a crop that has practically disappeared, which is used to make the traditional "chicha de guiñapo", a pre-Hispanic beverage kept in the traditional earthenware receptacle or "chomba de chicha", still available in the white city's most traditional and historical "picanterías".