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| Encyclopedia on guinea pig Food |
| Guinea pigs were
originally domesticated for their meat in the Andes. Traditionally, the
animal was usually reserved for ceremonial meals by indigenous people in
the Andean highlands, but since the 1960s it has become more socially
acceptable for consumption by all people. It continues to be a major
part of the diet in Peru and Bolivia, particularly in the Andes
Mountains highlands, it is also eaten in some areas of Ecuador (mainly
in the Sierra) and Colombia. Because guinea pigs require much less room
than traditional livestock and reproduce extremely quickly, they are a
more profitable source of food and income than many traditional stock
animals, such as pigs and cows; moreover, they can be raised in an urban
environment. Both rural and urban families raise guinea pigs for
supplementary income, and the animals are commonly bought and sold at
local markets and large-scale municipal fairs. Guinea pig meat is high
in protein and low in fat and cholesterol, and is described as being
similar to rabbit and the dark meat of chicken. The animal may be served
fried (chactado or frito), broiled (asado), or roasted (al horno), and
in urban restaurants may also be served in a casserole or a fricassee.
Ecuadorians commonly consume sopa or locro de cuy, a soup dish.
Pachamanca or huatia, a process similar to barbecuing, is also popular,
and is usually served with corn beer (chicha) in traditional settings. Cuy being raised at home in the traditional Andean fashionPeruvians consume an estimated 65 million guinea pigs each year, and the animal is so entrenched in the culture that one famous painting of the Last Supper in the main cathedral in Cusco shows Christ and the twelve disciples dining on guinea pig. The animal remains an important aspect of certain religious events in both rural and urban areas of Peru. A religious celebration known as jaca tsariy ("collecting the cuys") is a major festival in many villages in the Antonio Raimondi province of eastern Peru, and is celebrated in smaller ceremonies in Lima. It is a syncretistic event, combining elements of Catholicism and pre-Columbian religious practices, and revolves around the celebration of local patron saints. The exact form that the jaca tsariy takes differs from town to town; in some localities, a sirvinti (servant) is appointed to go from door to door, collecting donations of guinea pigs, while in others, guinea pigs may be brought to a communal area to be released in a mock bullfight Meals such as cuy chactado are always served as part of these festivities, and the killing and serving of the animal is framed by some communities as a symbolic satire of local politicians or important figures. In the Tangipahoa and Cotopaxi provinces of central Ecuador, guinea pigs are employed in the celebrations surrounding the feast of Corpus Christi as part of the Ensayo, which is a community meal, and the Octava, where castillos (greased poles) are erected with prizes tied to the crossbars, from which several guinea pigs may be hung. The Peruvian town of Churin has an annual festival which involves dressing guinea pigs in elaborate costumes for a competition. |
| Andean immigrants in New York City raise and sell guinea pigs for meat, and some ethnic restaurants in major United States cities serve cuy as a delicacy. Peruvian research universities, especially La Molina National Agrarian University, began experimental programs in the 1960s with the intention of breeding larger-sized guinea pigs. Subsequent university efforts have sought to change breeding and husbandry procedures in South America, in order to make the raising of guinea pigs as livestock more economically sustainable. In the 1990s and 2000s, the university began exporting the larger breed guinea pigs to Europe, Japan, and the United States in the hope of increasing human consumption outside of these countries in northern South America. Efforts have also been made to introduce guinea pig husbandry in developing countries in West Africa. |