Cuy is not our favorite dish, but the people here love it! It is a little too greasy for my tastebuds. It is not bad, it is just not my preference. Plus they serve these guinea pig with heads and claws. Watching your friend suck a guinea pig head can drain the appetite of anyone who is not completely culturally assimilated. I don’t think we would ever claim to be culturally in tune with the Quechua. Here is a good article from NPR on the new guinea pig craze. Click the paragraph below to be taken to the article.

In the past decade or so, guinea pig popularity has exploded, as the cosmopolitan dining culture of Lima and other Peruvian cities has taken a liking to the animals — not so much for their big fawn-like eyes but more for their fatty flesh. The guinea pig’s skin, crispy when fried, is also coveted.

For farmers in the high mountains of southern Peru, the rising interest in this rabbit-sized rodent comes as a chance to cash in. The average income for a household here may run the equivalent of only $100 a month, according to Lionel Vigil, the Lima-based regional director for the social aid organization World Neighbors.

“These people really are the poorest of the poor,” Vigil says. “But when we incorporate guinea pigs into their lives, they can add an extra $100 per month.”