Guinea pigs for China, courtesy of Peru

Posted By Elizabeth Dickinson Friday, March 20, 2009 - 12:44 PM Share

I'll start with the bad news for anyone with a pet guinea pig: this blog post is not about pets. It's about food staples -- the guinea pig being a major one for Peru, with 65 million of the critters eaten each year. In addition to genetically engineering the perfect pig, Peru celebrates its culinary tradition in splendid a guinea pig festival.

Alas, despite a bull market at home, exporting the creature has proven difficult in a world where guinea-pigs are at times more associated with cages and hampster wheels than with fine cutlery. But now from the blogosphere a rather brilliant suggestion: export to China. No qualms about pet vs. platter there. And guinea pigs are remarkably economical -- at just $3.20 to feed half a dozen people. Sounds like guinea pigs are a recession proof (even countercyclical) market. I'm investing now.

Hat tip: Double Handshake.

STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images

EXPLORE:LATIN AMERICA, CHINA, FOOD/AGRICULTURE, TRADE

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DAVID BECKER

8:22 PM ET

March 20, 2009

Peruvian Guinea Pigs

The Peruvian guinea pig, or "cuy," is a traditional food of Andean civilizations. They are very nutritious and an important source of protein for the urban poor, who raise them on kitchen scraps, as well as for highlands peasants. At a Cuzco restaurant specializing in "comidas típicas" (native foods), I was served broiled cuy; the little critter had been split in half and cooked flat. It really did "taste a lot like chicken," but it was full of tiny bones and was almost as hard to eat as an unfilleted fish. Incidentally, it came with an excellent purée of yellow potatoes, another Peruvian specialty.

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