The Quest For Cuy

On the evening of our last full day in Peru, I was getting antsy.

Besides hiking to Machu Picchu, one of my goals for this trip was to try cuy. I only had a few hours left.

Cuy (pronounced kwee) is what the Peruvians call a guinea pig. It's a delicacy in these parts. They throw an annual Cuy Festival here, and unfortunately we had just missed it.

Normally, the thought of eating a rodent would absolutely sicken me. Also, my brother once had a pet guinea pig. I thought it was the cutest thing ever. And now I wanted to eat one. Because I firmly believe that if you're in a foreign land, you do as the natives do. If you're in France, you eat the crepes. If you're in Holland, you eat the pannenkoken. And if you're in Peru, you eat the cuy.

Let's back it up a little bit. On our first day in Cusco, we had lunch at a restaurant (who's name escapes me) and lo and behold, cuy was on the menu. I thought it was way too soon for cuy. I hadn't even hiked yet! So I passed. My friend Allan, who also made it a goal to try the cuy, did not pass up the opportunity.

And this is what he ate:



You can have cuy many ways; grilled, deep-fried, raw. OK, maybe not raw. Allan ordered it roasted. They had to cut it in smaller chunks for him. It was a little much. But Allan seemed to like it.




So it was with a little trepidation that I, along with my friends who REALLY wanted to see me try this thing, walked into La Tranquera restaurant in Miraflores, a swanky, tourist-friendly section of Lima.



La Tranquera is not your typical Peruvian restaurant. It's actually an Argentine-themed steakhouse. Meaning they do meat right. Including cuy. So I bucked up and ordered an entire guinea pig.

And this is what I ate:



No seriously, this is guinea pig. Sure, it looks like it's a decent cut of meat. That's because it is! The chefs are that good. La Tranquera, folks. Check it out when you're in Lima.

So how was it? Good, I guess. It was definitely unlike any meat I've had. It kind of tastes like pork. But not really. It's hard to describe. You really have to eat one to see (and taste) for yourself.

This is what I looked like as I was finishing my cuy:



It was a big guinea pig.

Everyone else in our group, except for my best bud Allan, just couldn't imagine eating cuy. I didn't know what the big deal was. Why would I travel to some country just so I can eat food that I'm familiar with? With that said, I would never ever eat cuy in the U.S.

Because that's just weird.

Here are some more pics taken from our last day in Peru. To reassure all of you, we did eat very well on the trip. But that's another entry...