7 Days in Peru: Day 5:Cusco- Trying Guinea Pig (Cuy) and Living to Tell About It!
Trip to Peru Day 5
Location: Cusco- Deva Restaurant
Cost: We spent about $40 for our meal, and splurged on the delicacy
Time: Plan at least 1 hour, but get there early- they fill up fast and the wait can get pretty long!
They start off every meal with fried corn and pisac sours. We aren’t drinkers, but appreciated the gesture and commitment to have tourists try many authentic Peruvian food staples.
We also learned we love the lemonade, which has a bit of mint added. We started ordering a pitcher at every meal.
We wanted to start with something safe. Quinoa is a staple there, and the quinoa con leche was seriously some of the best stuff we’ve ever had! We’ve been on the search for this recipe ever since- quinoa, cheese, various spices, and milk are divine!
We feel so lucky that after being immersed in Spanish it came back to us, and we were able to really enjoy the people. We had a good chat with the waiter who was studying English and hospitality, and he asked if he could take us back to the kitchen and show us how they prepare cuy, so he could practice his English. We were happy to oblige! It was quite the adventure to head back and see how they are deep fry them whole with stones to weigh them down and add flavor.
The verdict: It really does taste like sweeter chicken! We could only do a piece each, and then we were ready to go get some hot chocolate to fill us up and clean our palate after the unusual experience. I’m glad we tried it though- it’s a must for visiting Peru!
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I am so glad you tried it! I had a professor that took a study abroad trip to Equador every year and if you ate the guinea pig you didn't have to write the paper. He passed away this past year of cancer and I always think about his Equador stories and greatly regret that I never went.
Wow, that is one unique meal!! The quinoa looks awesome!
I've never tried it! If it tastes like chicken, I could do it though!
Guinea pig is quite a cultural experience. Not many tourists like it.
I totally don't think I could eat guinea pig! That little body on my plate awww. Llama though sounds interesting!
Oh MAN! My husband went and he said he chickened out when it came time to try it, lol.
Oh gosh, that's brave. It really does look like a guinea pig on the plate. I can't believe they didn't gut it though?!
Katie <3
You guys are too cool for me. I need to start vacationing like you.
The food looks so delicious. That lemonade looks so refreshing too, now I want a pitcher for myself 🙂
These are some gorgeous photos! Thanks for sharing!
I would give it try! I won't say it looks delicious, but it sounds delicious!
Looks like you guys are having a blast! Trying new things is so important while on vacation!
xo,
Amanda
Hope you may check out my blog, too! 🙂
affordablebyamanda.blogspot.com
Everything looks so good but Id be so nervous to try guinea pig!
xoxo
Candace
You are so brave! I like trying new foods but I'm not so sure about this. I love how you incorporated the video into this post.
I'm vegetarian so I couldn't try the guinea pig but I'd be in quinoa heaven! 🙂 It looks like you had a great trip.
I've had a few friends tried guinea pig and like you, they said it tasted like chicken almost! I'm always up to try new things so if given they chance I'd love to try it for myself <3
HAHAHA OH MY! I hate that the shape of the body is smack dab on the plate. I'd be into trying different delicacies too, interesting that it tastes -sweeter- than chicken, crazy. 🙂
i think i had a small bite of the guinea pig while i was there but don't think it was enough to get a good idea of the taste. jacob ordered it and sait i wasn't bad. but i'm not super adventurous with eating different types of meat. 😛 i also don't like seeing the whole animal.