Some culinary news of the weird
December 31st, 2007 by Cliff Bostock in Food & Life
If you didn’t hear, you can still stop and shed a tear for Robert Cade, who died at 80 on Nov. 27. Cade was the University of Florida researcher who invented Gatorade, an incomparable blend of water, sugar and salt with a heady Kool-Aid-like bouquet and a mouth-feel resembling diluted motor oil. But it will keep you hydrated at the gym or in the club while you’re doing Ecstasy. …
I find this strange. Jim Romenesko runs the newsiest journalism page on the Internet. If you want to dish the media dirt, it’s the place to go. It turns out, he also runs a site called StarbucksGossip.com. Its role is “monitoring America’s favorite drug dealer.” Although unaffiliated with Starbucks, it includes plenty of insider gossip from baristas. The Seattle Times recently interviewed Romenesko about the site. Check it out here. …
Ugh. USA Today recently reported the latest gourmet delight in Lima, Peru. It’s deep-fried guinea pigs. The paper reports:
“It was delicious. Marinated whole overnight in orange juice and garlic and spit roasted over an open fire,” Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel series “Bizarre Foods,” said in an e-mail interview. He sampled the delicacy in neighboring Ecuador last year. “Cuy should be popular in the USA once we adopt a different attitude about alternative foods, especially ones that some people keep as pets.”
This is nothing especially new, according to USA Today:
Guinea pigs are native to the high Andes, and have been an important source of protein for millenia. Today, they are common in rural Andean households as a sort of savings account — they are so easy and cheap to breed, that when a family needs money, they can sell a dozen or so.
I’m not eating guinea pigs. Would you?
December 31st, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Yep, I would. Why not? :)
December 31st, 2007 at 6:57 pm
I think if you’re a carnivore you should develop a taste for all animals. It really makes no sense that Americans are so discriminating when it comes to what animals they will eat. If you’ll eat a pig, why not a dog, or a horse, a cat, or a guinea pig? All animals are considered food for the carnivore/omnivore, why distinguish between them, why keep some as pets and not others, and why only eat a small handful of species raised on industrialized farms?
On an episode of the Travel Channel’s “No Reservations” Tony Bourdain visited a family home while in Peru – these people kept a group of guinea pigs inside, and when hungry would take one or two out to cook up on the grill. Why not?
Me? I’m a vegetarian.
January 1st, 2008 at 8:55 am
Not wanting to eat something you’d consider a pet is perfectly reasonable, given the availability of alternatives. Not sure how much I value the opinion of a vegetarian on this matter.
January 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Cliff, what was “weird” about the death of Dr. Cade?
January 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Aw, Robin, I was an omnivore for 45 years, doesn’t that account for something? At least I value my opinion – and when I was an omnivore I didn’t distinguish between “cuteness” and tastiness.
January 7th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Going to Peru at the end of the month and looking forward to trying cuy. Each culture eats different foods and I personally think most German food is more unappealing to me than guinea pigs. The Anthony Bourdain show (I think, I’ve TiVoed a bunch of
shows on Peru) featured roasted alpaca meat and the numerous cafes in Lima where you can try ceviche. It all looked and sounded wonderfully yummy!
June 28th, 2009 at 8:15 am
I would try one in a heartbeat. In fact, I found this article because I am looking for a place in the Atlanta area to try one.
Did you know some people keep chickens and ducks as household pets? In my opinion: If you are not a vegetarian, then any animal can be food.