What wine with grilled guinea pig? (Graphic! Not for the faint of heart!)

My son (pictured below) recently returned from Ecuador and provided the following pics of a local specialty ... grilled guinea pig! I wonder if it would taste any better on the Kamado?

We used to have guinea pigs as pets when our kids were little. They are darling little creatures and make the cutest sounds. They like to cuddle, and chew things. I can't imagine there is enough meat on them to go to the trouble as shown in the pictures.

More meat than a squirrel, needs less space and more hardy than chickens, and can live and prosper on a sparce diet found in the high Andes. Source: An RPCV friend who spent two years in Bolivia.

More meat than a squirrel, needs less space and more hardy than chickens

And they taste just like a whooping crane...

[Robin Garr]

grilled guinea pig!

Also a delicacy in the Peruvian Andes, although I did not indulge. In Cuzco, there's a famous old painting of the Last Supper (by a nameless Quechua artist) with a full indigenous banquet spread on the table including a whole <i>cuy</i> (guinea pig) in the prime position. Interestingly, Jesus and all the apostles are depicted as light-complected Spaniards, while Judas is a dark-skinned Indian. One wonders whether the artist intended that as a compliment or an insult ...

[img]http://www.delange.org/CathedralCusco/Dsc00099.jpg[/img]

A friend of mine who ate cuy a few times in El Salvador suggests that, for wine pairing purposes, you may treat guinea pig as rabbit.

FWIW.

Interestingly, Jesus and all the apostles are depicted as light-complected Spaniards, while Judas is a dark-skinned Indian. One wonders whether the artist intended that as a compliment or an insult ...

I only saw nine apostles (not twelve) in the painting that you showed. The one to the right of Jesus, and a couple at the perimeter, have dusky features due to the shading, but I don't see them as distinctly dark-skinned American Native as opposed to light-skinned Spaniard. At least in the part of the painting in the image you posted, I don't see anything blatant, or anything not explainable by the natural shadows of the painting. No question that the Native American population in the Latin American world has suffered greatly (and continues to do so) at the hands of the Iberian conquerers (both Spanish and Portuguese), but, given the image that you posted, I think the "Judas as Native American" bias is only visible through the lens of Political Correctness.

Whatever, there's no question that guinea pig wasn't on the menu at Jesus's sader before he was crucified.

Are guinea pigs kosher?

-Paul W.

[Robin Garr]

I don't see them as distinctly dark-skinned American Native as opposed to light-skinned Spaniard. ... I think the "Judas as Native American" bias is only visible through the lens of Political Correctness.

I got this information from a Quechua guide during a tour of the real cathedral, standing before the real painting. He didn't seem particularly PC, and <i>in situ</i> it's not hard to see the obvious racial characteristics portrayed in one of the apostles.

Whatever, there's no question that guinea pig wasn't on the menu at Jesus's sader before he was crucified.

That would be "seder."

Are guinea pigs kosher?

Bests the hell out of me! I'm guessing not, though. By and large, Leviticus seems to find ways to proscribe most creepy-crawlies.

That would be "seder."

Since it's a transliteration of a Hebrew word, I don't think that there is a fixed way to spell it. Sort of like Hannukah and Qadaffi.

No, it's not Kosher. No cloven hooves and it's not a ruminant.

[Robin Garr]

Since it's a transliteration of a Hebrew word, I don't think that there is a fixed way to spell it. Sort of like Hannukah and Qadaffi.

In contrast with Hannukah/Channukah, though. "seder" is widely accepted as a standard English transliteration. Try googling "seder passover" (more than 1 million hits) and "sader passover" (2,000 hits, many of them either phonetic pronunciations or non-Jewish sources).

Oh Gary! I would have no problem eating a guinea pig...I just don't like the look of it all intact like that...LOL!

Is that your son Christian? I am guessing so, since he looks like you. Did he enjoy his visit?

Are guinea pigs kosher?

Like Stuart said, no they are not Kosher. They are rodents and rodents are not considered Kosher:

Rodents, worms, amphibians, and creeping, swimming, or flying insects, are not kosher.

The above was quoted from the Houston Kashruth Association http://www.kosherhouston.org/kosherprimer.htm

Oh Gary! I would have no problem eating a guinea pig...I just don't like the look of it all intact like that...LOL!

Well, then you're a better man than I am, Maria! I probably would eat anything if were hungry enough, but, as long as there's Carl's Jr. and KFC, guinea pig will not be in my diet ... at least not knowingly.

Is that your son Christian? I am guessing so, since he looks like you. Did he enjoy his visit?

Yes, that is my son. Thanks for the compliment, but I haven't looked that good since Janis Joplin was still alive. He absolutely loved his visit. By the way, he's single, 28, lives in Brick, is an elementary school teacher, and gives piano lessons on the side. Any takers?

One more shot of Christian:

<center><center>

Ah, but that would be robbing the cradle for this middle-aged woman. And I've always kind of gone for the dads anyway!

Ah, but that would be robbing the cradle for this middle-aged woman. And I've always kind of gone for the dads anyway!

I meant any takers for piano lessons!! Geez!! What kind of a daddy do you think I am? (Wait! Don't answer that.)

I meant any takers for piano lessons!!

Uh-huh. Sure. You bet.

You say "seder," I say "seyder." The alternate spelling turned up some interesting hits, including this one:

http://www.pass.to/tgmegillah/features1.asp?id=145


And sorry, Gary, no piano lessons here. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

And sorry, Gary, no piano lessons here. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

The commute would probably kill you anyway. He lives in New Jersey.

I once went to bar mitzvah where one of the party games was bobbing for fruit in a barrel. I think they called it an apple seder.

I don't see them as distinctly dark-skinned American Native as opposed to light-skinned Spaniard. ... I think the "Judas as Native American" bias is only visible through the lens of Political Correctness.

I got this information from a Quechua guide during a tour of the real cathedral, standing before the real painting. He didn't seem particularly PC, and <i>in situ</i> it's not hard to see the obvious racial characteristics portrayed in one of the apostles.

Fair enough. Didn't come across in the photo, though.

Whatever, there's no question that guinea pig wasn't on the menu at Jesus's sader before he was crucified.

That would be "seder."

You're right. My mistake.

-Paul W.

Gary,

No worse than roast suckling pig, really, is it?

Part of the whole Western supermarket culture is that we're awfully far removed from how our food is produced. We are animals. That means that we obtain sustenance through the death of other lives.

Billions of yeasts have given their lives for each loaf of bread that we eat. Talk about mass destruction and slaughter . . . .

-Paul W.

Gary,

No worse than roast suckling pig, really, is it?

Part of the whole Western supermarket culture is that we're awfully far removed from how our food is produced. We are animals. That means that we obtain sustenance through the death of other lives.

Billions of yeasts have given their lives for each loaf of bread that we eat. Talk about mass destruction and slaughter . . . .

-Paul W.

Paul, it's just a butt-ugly sight ... toasted rat on a stick. By the way, I am very close to how our food is produced. I visit slaughterhouses, chicken processing plants, French fry factories, nutraceutical mills, etc. on a regular basis. I've even been within range of an innards-flinging, out-of-control poultry eviscerator ... but I still say "yuck" to the guinea pig en brochette. Even Hannibal Lecter had his limits.

That sight doesn't gross me out in the least - I'd just want to be sure that, it being a rodent, it wasn't just plucked out of some dirty environment, having consumed who-knows-what in its lifetime. And yes, I agree that the earlier suggestion of treating the meat like rabbit meat (don't rabbits make you think of squirrels when you buy them whole?) makes sense. It's probably just as tasteless as rabbit meat too ... assuming that it's the farmed type. I still haven't had a chance to try wild hare.