Meet your local guide in the morning at Cafe Triana, located inside the lively San Juan Mercado de Especialidades (San Juan Market), and begin your culinary adventure with a steaming cup of organic coffee from Veracruz. Cafe Triana is frequented by famous chefs, and the coffee served here has won European awards.

Then follow your guide through the maze of winding stalls that make up San Juan Market, renowned for foods one doesn't ordinarily find elsewhere. Marvel at the array of exotic delicacies piled on counters row after row ─ quail, imported crocodile, wild boar and creatures of the sea, including stingray, eel and freshwater gar.

Sample Mexican crackling, grasshopper, river shrimp and the edible flower, and return to familiar ground with gourmet cheeses. The stalls you visit, including Cevicheria el Puerto de Alvarado and Gastron□mica San Juan, have been carefully chosen by your guide to provide you with a wide range of Mexican cuisine, considered a UNESCO World Heritage since 2010. Meet stall owners, hear about their backgrounds and listen to how they prepare their specialties from scratch.

Afterward, walk a short distance to Mercado de Artesan□as La Ciudadela (Artisan Market), which offers the city’s largest selection of wares.

Find beautiful handcrafted goods from all over Mexico, including Talavera pottery, silverware, leather belts, tile-encased mirrors, papier-mch□ skeletons, guitars, rugs and lacquered trays from Olinal□. Your guide introduces you to artisans and traders from select booths, who share with you where their goods come from and how they are made.

Your all-in-one culinary and cultural tour complete, take the afternoon to further explore the food and market stalls recommended by your guide.