Bizarre Food, Cuy in Ecuador

March 31, 2015

Traveling and experiencing cultures often leads to a meal you once thought you would never attempt. It can mean sampling of the local delicacy usually made up of items most people can digest or something totally bizarre like eating fried insects in Thailand, cured horse heart in Budapest, or wood worms in the Philippines. I was reminded of my situation when Ben from HugeTravelParty asked for stories on the topic of “I can’t believe I ate/drank that”.

(for the complete post, see “I can’t believe I ate/drank that”)

My personal experience with a bizarre food was on November of 2014. I was in Quito for my birthday when I decided to try the cuy (kuwe), or fried guinea pig. A unique food, to say the least, that my Ecuadorian coworker had dared me to try. I knew my friends back home would frown upon this, and they did, so I created the story that cuy was “the birthday meal of Inca kings”. If this was good enough for kings, it was good enough for me. Somewhat believable, right?!
Yes, it’s recognized as a pet which makes it taboo to eat, but in Ecuador and Peru it’s considered a delicacy. My guide also convinced me to eat the head! He said it doesn’t count if you don’t eat the head. I would eat it again without consuming the head, which was a one time thing.

”Does it taste like chicken?” you ask. No, more like a suckling pig but a little bony.

Do you have a bizarre food story? tell me about it.

*****

for my post on Quito, see: Middle Earth, Quito Ecuador

Category : Ecuador, Quito, South America

Tags : adventure, bizarre food, cuy, food, guinea pig, photography, travel

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13 thoughts on “Bizarre Food, Cuy in Ecuador”

melissagasia on March 31, 2015 at 9:07 pm said:

damn haha

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Rechito on March 31, 2015 at 9:18 pm said:

Are you putting this on your bucket list? 🙂

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- melissagasia on March 31, 2015 at 9:26 pm said:
  
  haha i should
  
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Retired2Travel on April 1, 2015 at 2:08 am said:

I think I’ll stick with the ‘norm’ 🙂

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Holly Beddome on April 2, 2015 at 5:21 am said:

Haha, well, I’ve had numerous bugs (fried crickets, water beetles, tarantulas, stir-fried ants, roasted grasshoppers, boiled silkworms) and once I ordered soup in Korea that ended up having blood chunks and bits of intestines in it. Everything was pretty good, except the blood chunks and the silkworms (never again!)

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Rechito on April 2, 2015 at 6:08 am said:

I’ve had dinuguan, stew made of pigs blood, which actually isn’t too bad and I can probably eat anything fried but I’m with you on the silkworm, the texture of just doesn’t sound appealing

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Dalo 2013 on April 3, 2015 at 4:09 pm said:

This is so cool ~ I think there is nothing better than tasting the local cuisine to get a nice feel for the culture 🙂 And to be honest, it looks pretty good on your plate and if it is “the birthday meal of Inca kings” then I agree, it is worth a try. Great post!

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Rechito on April 3, 2015 at 5:39 pm said:

Thanks. I’m not that adventurous when it comes to food but I’ll try anything friend, at least once.

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- Dalo 2013 on April 3, 2015 at 6:08 pm said:
  
  I think that is the right attitude…
  
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mangoandbeans on April 4, 2015 at 2:00 am said:

Omg can’t believe you ate that!!! haha. The head looks like a little baby dinosaur lol I’ve tried wood worms in the Phils and crocodile meat but that’s as far as I’ve gone. Very brave, good on ya mate.

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Rechito on April 4, 2015 at 7:17 am said:

I don’t think I’d try the wood worms, the texture would get to me

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Ledgardo Lacson on May 9, 2015 at 7:17 pm said:

The first thing I thought it was the BAYAWAK but when I read your story it’s more blizzard on your birthday one guinea pig , oh man you have all the guts to consumed it.

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