Organic residue and lipid analyses of ceramic artifacts provide important direct information on subsistence economies and foodways, pottery technology, exchange and trade, and ritual beliefs. Residue analysis needs to be enhanced by experimental data and reference libraries that can provide solid frameworks to construct archaeological interpretations. Inspired by the extensive work on Old World experimental frameworks, this research focuses on South America species of economic and cultural interest within prehispanic societies by presenting the results of experimental and community-based work conducted in the Argentinian Andes with indigenous communities (Tafí del Valle, Tucumán). We partnered with an indigenous potter to replicate ancient cooking pots from the Formative Period (c. 200 BC-AD 800). Next, we cooked different traditional recipes using locally sourced, organic ingredients (maize, quinoa, squash, and llama meat) known to have been grown by villagers in the past. Culinary experiments were repeated several times to emulate daily use. Pots were buried for two months to simulate decay and then sampled for absorbed residue analysis by GC-MS and adhered crusts on EA-IRMS. providing a locally-constructed interpretative frame for archaeological chemical fingerprints.