Cuy Frito

Cuy Frito — "fried guinea pig" — is one of Peru's most iconic regional dishes, traditionally prepared in the Andean highlands and the central sierra for harvest celebrations, weddings, and Sundays. The whole animal is cleaned, briefly marinated in salt, garlic, cumin, and huacatay (Andean black mint), then either roasted whole on a spit over an open fire, grilled over coals, or fried in a heavy pan until the skin turns bronzed and crisp. The cooking method varies: in Cajamarca and Cusco it is most often a slow spit-roast over eucalyptus wood, while in Junín and Pasco it is shallow-fried and finished with a salsa of onion, tomato, and ají panca.

The meat is small, dark, lean, and intensely flavourful, with a taste often compared to rabbit or dark-meat turkey. It is served whole on a plate so that diners can choose their preferred parts (the crisp skin, the legs, the saddle), accompanied by boiled Andean potatoes, choclo (giant white corn), a heap of fresh lettuce, and a spicy ají verde made with rocoto or ají amarillo. The bones are small and edible in much of the dish, and the head is often kept on for presentation.

Today Cuy Frito is a speciality restaurant dish in Lima's upscale Andean restaurants (La Picantería, El Mercado, Fiesta, Huaca Pucllana) and a staple home meal in Andean towns such as Huancayo, Tarma, Huancavelica, Ayacucho, and Cusco. It is the centrepiece of festivals such as the Festival del Cuy in Huancavelica and the carnavales in Cajamarca. Outside Peru, it is found in Ecuadorian highland menus and in Andean restaurants in Bolivia, and is served at Peruvian restaurants in New York, Madrid, and Tokyo as an exotic delicacy.