To cuy or not to cuy….THAT is the question…
If you are a food adventurer think RODENT. Think too of that cute pet you had when you were 10 or so, ever eager to run on its treadmill for obvious jolly injection. And picture it on your plate—because if you are an adherent to the rubric When in Rome, do as the Romans do, cuy (guinea pig) is your number one priority to feast upon.
Cuy is THE classic Peruvian dish. If Peruvian restaurants we have sampled in Chicago, San Francisco or Washington D.C. are indicative, it’s a staple of Peruano cuisine that never makes it to a US-Peruvian restaurant menu.
When polled, every Peruvian we asked commented along the lines of “Cuy—muy rico!”
When polled, every non-Peruvian who tried it clarified that NO, it doesn’t taste like chicken and NO, they don’t have a desire to eat it again.
According to our tour guide in the Cuzco Cathedral, the subversive Andean spirit replaced a leg of lamb in a Last Supper painting with a guinea pig. Look too to the modern day Coca-Cola sign, and you see that the happy-faced Coca-Cola icon is serving you- what else? – guinea pig!
