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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad December 20, 2005 Freshly squeezed juice ... and rodent? By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings An Ecuadorian woman roasts several cuye over open coals at a weekend market. Served whole, the meat is tender and the skin — if all the hair has been removed — can be flavorful when cooked well. Submitted photo QUITO, Ecuador — Amazing fresh-fruit juices can be found everywhere, usually for less than $1 and made with tropical delights rare or unheard of in the U.S. Here, people also consider roasted guinea pigs with roasted potatoes and fresh produce a delicacy. The traditional food dates back to Incan times and can be found at most celebrations and street markets but, on the plate, the dish looks like leathery, angry versions of childhood pets. It’s more than a little scary. I read about the local food while flying over Central America and, by the time I landed in Quito, had determined I would eat one before my 10-day vacation ended. The challenge — both in locating good cuye and stomaching the little guy — easily drew the support of Audrey, my 19-year-old sister. As children, we had raised herds of guinea pigs with our brother, Chris, until one fatally cold night spent outside froze all of their little bodies and forever silenced their high-pitched squeaking. I still wonder what Dad did with the dozen or more guinea pigs we had at the time. Now I think I know. He must have shipped them to Ecuador to be roasted whole. Audrey and I spent days searching for cuye — in Banos, Puyo and all over Quito — before her host mom volunteered to have one delivered to the house. When we returned from a trip to the north coast, there he was, spread over eight peeled potatoes on a foil-covered paper plate in the fridge. It’s alarming to look at. For one, the guinea pig flattened at some point in the slaughtering or cooking process. His little paws stuck out to the sides, teeth bared from his open mouth and, in some places, small tufts of fur still clung to the golden-brown skin. I didn’t scream, I promise, but I didn’t sit down and dig right in. The host dad poured me a Pilsner, the national beer, while the host mom pulled the back legs off the cuye and and cut it into pieces with kitchen shears. She served sections of the cuye, which still looked remarkable like a small animal, with a couple potatoes, a spicy sauce and slices of avocado. And more beer. The meat has the texture of a well-tenderized venison steak and falls somewhere between chicken and rabbit on the flavor scale. Dark and lean, it flakes off the bones and has enough taste to carry itself without the spicy sauce. But it’s still a guinea pig. According to the host mom, the quality of cuye varies widely and is based in how well its cooked and how fresh the dish is. Ours would have been better, she said, if we had been able to eat it warm from the grill. We also would have enjoyed the flavor of the skin — a rubbery, still-hairy gauze over the little meat one can get from a small rodent — had the dish not waited for us in the fridge. Still, being able to try a food so foreign to us had its value and now we can tell people “I ate a guinea pig once!” Besides, I’m glad our determination focused on tasting cuye, not other Ecuadorian foods such as yaguarlorco — potato soup with chunks of barely congealed blood sausage — or soup made of boiled cattle hooves. Cuye (Although I’m not sure where you can legally purchase guinea pig meat.) 4 guinea pigs (cleaned but whole) Garlic, pepper and salt to taste 2 yellow or red peppers 1 onion Oil Roasted peanuts Potatoes (optional) Dip the guinea pigs in boiling water to harden the body. Rub it with salt and, if possible, blood from the animal to produce more flavor. After letting it cure for about two hours, cook it over coals or in an oven (at about 350 degrees). Saute the peppers, toasted peanuts, onion and potatoes. Serve the cuye whole on top of the vegetables. Watch out for small bones or bits of fur. Makes 4 servings. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.