Guinea pigs

Ah, guinea pigs. They're illegal to eat in the UK, since there's apparently a law that prohibits animals classified as pets from being consumed as food. So Peruvian restaurants in the UK aren't allowed to serve guinea pigs, even though it's their national dish (I know, I asked a few).

No matter - on our trip to Peru, I was determined to partake of their national dish. So I did - I had cuy al horno, or roasted guinea pig. It turned out that they weren't that easy to find. At Pacha Papa, a (slightly touristy) restaurant the Pretty Lady and I visited twice, the cuy needed to be ordered a day ahead. Not ideal for my random walk derived restaurant choosing strategy. All in all, I think I only visited 3 places where cuy was available instantly, and two of them were the simple roast in the oven.

Anyway, guinea pig has really sweet meat - a bit like Chinese char siu, except that the sweetness is in the flesh itself rather than derived from a barbecue marinade. I can see why the Peruvians like it. It tastes like I thought rabbit char siu would taste like. The adjacent image shows a guinea pig roast I had in Cusco. As you can see, the kitchen has removed the head, and divided the body into 3 segments. I've eaten one segment, so the guinea pig is actually slightly longer than the portions on the plate suggest.

The one problem about guinea pig roast is the skin. It's rubbery, hard and tasteless, and I suspect is not really edible. Maybe it was left on as a test - what Terry Pratchett calls the Sheep's Eye test. That is, what the most disgusting thing that you can leave on a tourist's plate and have him still eat it? Unfortunately I only caught on after I ate most of the skin...

Never mind. The other reason why Peruvians eat guinea pig is probably because they are quite abundant. In Puno, near Lake Titicaca, we stayed at a hotel that had their guinea pig farm (maybe) in the lakeside garden. The adjacent image is of a denizen of the garden. And it wasn't easy to get either - those guinea pigs were slippery buggers and difficult to sneak up on. Hardly surprising, as the guinea pigs that were friendly to humans in Peru were probably eaten long ago.

So, guinea pig has sweet and tasty meat (shame they don't allow them to be eaten in the UK). This probably applies to most members of the rodent family. In any case in South America they make a habit of eating rodents - the capybara, largest rodent in the world, is a popular delicacy. Not least because they are semi-aquatic and considered to be fish by the Catholic church, hence eligible for consumption on fasting Fridays.