I’ve only eaten cuy frito (fried guinea pig). It’s kind of like fried chicken, but here, they use almost every part of the animal. This means we eat the head, legs, body, and even organs! I’ve had to get used to eating different animal parts while living here.
It’s usually served with papas (potatoes) and arroz (rice). The fried skin is crispy and oily, and the meat is small. Usually, you pick it off the bones with your hands. The potatoes are cooked with herbs and spices. With this dish, we almost always eat plain white rice, or my favorite, trigo. Trigo is a local wheat grain that looks like dark, round rice. My host family even grows it on their chacra (farm).
They also serve cuy with a small salad made of chopped red onion, lime juice, and cilantro. I love this part of the dish! Sometimes they add rocoto, a spicy salsa made from a local Peruvian pepper. It’s made using a batán, or a flat grinding stone. I even got to try making it once. The batán is heavier than you’d expect!
Yes, cuy is very connected to the environment. It’s been a source of protein here for centuries. Cuy thrive in areas of high altitude in the Andes mountains, where other animals might not survive. They’re small, eat less food, and take up less space. We feed ours alfalfa, which grows quickly on our farm. They also reproduce fast, which makes them a practical food source. Since many communities here are far from roads or stores, and refrigerators aren’t common, raising cuy locally makes much more sense than importing meat.
Overall, this dish is very popular and considered special here in my town!
