Welcome to the first post of The Traveling Filipina. I’m sure you’re asking if that nicely golden-fried guinea pig on the header was eaten by yours truly. Yes it was.
This photo was taken on February 2003 in the Peruvian city of Arequipa, a few hundred miles north of the border from Chile. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru, second only to the capitol of Lima. Arequipa stands under the shadow of a great white volcano called Mt. Misti, the source of the stones used to make most of the buildings in the city.
The dish is called Cuy Chactado. It is prepared by gutting the guinea pigs raised in pens at the back of restaurants, splaying it, and deep frying it with a large, flat stone to keep the guinea pigs from rising to the top of the deep fryer.
In many places, cuy chactado is chopped into pieces you can easily eat it as you would with fried chicken.
It is usually served with Aji Verde (Peruvian green chile sauce), potatoes, and corn. Sometimes, a side salad comes with this dish as well. Since cuy chactado is regional to the Andes and locales south, you might have trouble finding this dish in Lima.
