Guinea Pig Eating Peru

Guinea pigs are cute and cuddly and eating one is like eating your.

Guinea pig eating peru. In the past few years their. History of guinea pigs. Eating guinea pigs in peru was once the food of the nobles only enjoyed by the upper echelon of society. What they are is a delicious delicacy best served with potatoes and salsa.

You ve seen them you petted them at your local pet store and some of you might have even had them as pets yourself. Media caption inside a guinea pig farm. Peruvians don t keep them as pets. The number of cuy that a family owned was indicative of their social status.

Most people see them as fluffy adorable pets but in peru guinea pigs or cuy as they are known locally are a delicacy. It wasn t until the spanish came and started sending guinea pigs to europe that the furry creatures were treated as pets. Eating guinea pig cuy in peru. They re not pigs and they don t come from guinea.

Updated march 26th 2020. In fact guinea pigs were so valuable that they could be used to barter for other items if the family didn t have any spare cash. The guinea pig was first domesticated as early as 5000 bc for food by tribes in the andean region of south america the present day southern part of colombia ecuador peru and bolivia some thousands of years after the domestication of the south american camelids. But did you know in peru guinea pigs aren t bred as pets but as livestock meant to be eaten.

In peru it s estimated that some 65 million guinea pigs are consumed each year cultivated by the incas in the andes for centuries the guinea pig was cheaper to raise and required less room to farm than pigs and cattle. Believe it or not guinea pigs originated in the andean region colombia ecuador bolivia and peru and were originally raised specifically for eating. Guinea pigs have been pets since they were first brought to europe but for more than 5 000 years they have fed rural communities in peru ecuador bolivia and colombia countries deeply and. Statues dating from circa 500 bc to 500 ad that depict guinea pigs have been unearthed in archaeological digs in peru and ecuador.