Guinea pig

Cavia porcellus

Guinea pigs as food

Guinea pigs, or cuy, cuye, curí, were originally domesticated for their meat, but today are primarily raised as pets. Their status as domestic pets has led to some feeling that using cavies as a source of food is ethically wrong. See also taboo food and drink.

Related Topics:
Ethically wrong - Taboo food and drink

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As food, the guinea pig is described as a combination of rabbit and the dark meat on chicken. It is high in protein (21%) and low in fat (8%). Due to the fact it requires much less room than traditional livestock and reproduce extremely quickly when compared to traditional stock animals, it can be raised as a source of food in an urban environment—something which most western livestock cannot do.

Related Topics:
Rabbit - Chicken

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To this day, cavies continue to be a major part of the diet in Peru and Bolivia, particularly in the Andes Mountains highlands, where they are an important source of protein and a mainstay of Andean folk medicine. Peruvians 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, Peru shows Christ and the twelve disciples dining on guinea pig.

Related Topics:
Peru - Bolivia - Andes Mountains - Last Supper - Cusco, Peru

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In Ecuador, mainly in the Sierra region of the country, guinea pigs are also consumed to a lesser extent, but are not depended upon as a staple source of protein.

Related Topics:
Ecuador - Sierra

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