Racer's Travel Journals

Racer

 
What do you want to do the next time you travel abroad?

learn a language, go sightseeing, play tourist

  • 31 years old
  • From Denver, United States
  • Currently in Denver, United States

Our Curious World

The world is a fascinating place! Working in 23 different countries, Experiential Learning International and our volunteers have seen some crazy stuff.

July 10, 2009

Peru Cusco, Peru  |  Jul 10, 2009
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 Happy Birthday!! 

What did you have to eat for your birthday this year?  A big birthday cake, loaded with frosting and topped with ice cream? A pizza? Dinner at your favorite restaurant?  If you are Quechua living in the Andean mountains of Peru, chances are what you had was cuy... or to the rest of us, guinea pig.  In Canada, USA, and Europe, there is a general taboo about eating any animal that would regularly be kept as a pet.  Certainly, someone in these countries would generally never even consider eating a dog or cat, horse is certainly off limits, and there is even a certain squeamishness about roasting a rabbit.  As a result, guinea pig has been written off in these societies, despite being extremely popular throughout the highlands of Peru, Bolivia, and parts of Ecuador.

Guinea pig, however, provides a real benefit as a food source.  It is low in fat and high in protein and with a very rapid reproduction rate raising cuy is much more profitable than raising other livestock, pigs or cows for example.  Guinea Pigs are small and can easily fit into a tiny kitchen or backyard pen and are easy to cook, tasty fried, grilled, or baked.  Cuy is so intrenched in indigenous Peruvian society, a popular reproduction of Leonardo DaVinci's Last Supper in the main cathedral in Cusco depicts Jesus dining with his disciples on the Andean delicacy.  In fact, Peruvians consume upwards of 65 million guinea pigs each year.  As a meal, it remains central to every major religious feast and festival (both Catholic and pre-Columbian).  Before acting squeamish, or thinking in too much depth of your hamster in his wheel at home, maybe you should take a bite.  You might just find a new favorite dish to enjoy for your birthday this year.

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