Would you eat Cuy (Guinea Pig)?

Would you eat Cuy (Guinea Pig)?

  • Yes, I'd eat it. BRING ON THE CUY!

    Votes: 21 29.6%
  • I'd try a bite if someone else ordered it.

    Votes: 18 25.4%
  • No, I could never eat a guinea pig! They're pets!

    Votes: 7 9.9%
  • No, I couldn't eat a guinea pig because the idea grosses me out

    Votes: 12 16.9%
  • I don't eat meat

    Votes: 5 7.0%
  • I've had cuy before

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • Other

    Votes: 4 5.6%
  • Chicken Pot Pie

    Votes: 3 4.2%

  • Total voters
    71

~Jessie~

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#1
A delicacy in Peru is cuy (guinea pig) meat. They're called cuy for the sounds they make ("cuy cuy") :eek: Cuy was a staple of the traditional Inca diet.

It's generally cooked and served with the head still attached. Restaurants will cut it up for you, though.

So... would you eat it?

I plan on trying it when I'm there, but it's hard to wrap my head around the idea of eating a "pet" animal :p
 

stardogs

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#2
Probably not, for the same reason that I generally don't eat pork - I've come to know both types of animals as individuals, which makes it hard to eat them.
 

Lyzelle

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#3
I don't have an aversion to strange food, usually. If I did, cuy definitely wouldn't be the worst thing on the list to try, so why not? :p
 

BostonBanker

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#4
I don't think I would try it, but mostly because I'm not a very adventurous eater. Any info on what the meat is like?
 

Emily

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#5
I had guinea pigs for a long time (and adored them) and I still think I'd try it, LOL. Is that messed up? :eek:
 

~Jessie~

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#6
I don't think I would try it, but mostly because I'm not a very adventurous eater. Any info on what the meat is like?
It's supposed to taste like rabbit meat. It's greasy and has a stringy texture.

I'm an adventurous eater for the most part. I'd never be able to bring myself to eat dog or anything like that, though.
 

Beanie

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#8
It's greasy and has a stringy texture.
Well that makes it sound even less appetizing LOL.

I'm trying to figure out how much meat you would even get out of a guinea pig...

I'm not very adventurous with my different meat options, I'm pretty limited to what I like anyway. I like chicken and I like pork. So I wouldn't try it just because I anticipate I wouldn't like it (especially given that description!)
 

~Jessie~

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#9
Well that makes it sound even less appetizing LOL.

I'm trying to figure out how much meat you would even get out of a guinea pig...

I'm not very adventurous with my different meat options, I'm pretty limited to what I like anyway. I like chicken and I like pork. So I wouldn't try it just because I anticipate I wouldn't like it (especially given that description!)
At least I'm not trying to sell it. LOL. It's supposed to be greasy, like rabbit or duck. And the meat has a stringy texture, but it's supposed to be tender.

I'm imagining that each prepared/cooked cuy weighs 1lb or so- they generally serve 1 per person.
 
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#10
I don't remember it being all that strange. We ate it a couple times and nothing really stood out. Our food was always good, we had it a couple times on our hike. I was so tired and hungry though they could have served anything and I would have devoured it so maybe I'm not the best critic :)
 

GipsyQueen

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#12
I don't eat meat - however I wouldn't try it even if I did :p

I loved my guineapig as a kid. Same thing with rabbit. I have a bunny at home... I couldn't eat one.
 

Beanie

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#15
GP in Peru are bigger than the average pet I think...
I was imagining it might be, and then I was totally picturing an ROUS guinea pig.



I tried goose once when a friend took me to a really fancy restaurant. It wasn't anything special (although by the price they charged you would think so.) I honestly would have rather had chicken LOL.
 

Shai

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#17
GP in Peru are bigger than the average pet I think...
I looked into it a while ago after the guinea-pigs-as-dog-food conversation here and yeah in the 70s Peruvian researchers bred bigger, faster-growing guinea pigs to help offset food shortages. They approximately tripled their starting size but I can't remember how big their final animals were.

Even 3x your biggest pet guinea pigs isn't quite an ROUS yet...might have to get into capybaras for that ;)
 
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#18
I was imagining it might be, and then I was totally picturing an ROUS guinea pig.

.
I think ROUS whenever I see a Capybara :)

I would likely not try it because I am very picky with food, but not for any ethical reason (unless I KNEW they were really mistreated before slaughter, same reasons I avoid factory farmed meats as much as I can).

I have chickens, consider them pets. While I dont eat MY chickens, yep, we eat a lot of chicken;)
 

PWCorgi

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#19
I had guinea pigs for a long time (and adored them) and I still think I'd try it, LOL. Is that messed up? :eek:
I hope not. I've had a lot of animals and I'd try just about anything once. Like, if I went to a country where it was served regularly I would absolutely try things like horse and dog, despite having owned both of those animals as well.

Even at work I have to handle dead feeder rats, and that doesn't bother me at all despite the fact that I own rats.

I'm very good at separating my OWN animals from meat on a plate.
 

BostonBanker

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#20
It's greasy and has a stringy texture.
Well shoot, sign me right up!

Ew. The picture didn't help. Like I said, I'm not very adventurous. I could pretty much live on chicken for the rest of my life.
 

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