Eating Cuy at the Local Market of Gualaceo Ecuador

When traveling long term, there are times when we crave for our comfort food. So I asked Danny, our guide that took us to Gualaceo who lived in New York City for several years, what was one food he craved? Believe it or not, it was cuy (guinea pig). Yes the cuy that we keep as pets in North America.

While visiting the local market of Gualaceo we went “cuy hunting"... there were two outdoor barbecue pits in the non-enclosed area of the market. Two ladies were charcoal roasting four guinea pigs on sticks. Our guide said we should pre-order and pay for the cuy first. Each cooked cuy at the market was $12, the cheapest I’ve seen. Back in Banos de Cuenca, it ranges from $15-$18 per cuy.

There was a crowd waiting for cooked cuy either to “para llevar” (take out) or eat in.

We went upstairs and women were standing by their roasted pig waiting for customers. These roasted pigs are common in the Andes of Ecuador. We saw them on the streets of Cuenca, during a festival at Banos de Cuenca and now at Gualaceo market.

Each cooked pig is left in a standing position complete with head, legs and tail with their cooked head facing customers. A kitchen cloth is usually placed on top of the pig, I guess to keep it clean. We bought one pound for $6 from one of the ladies who gave us some cascarita (pork skin) to try. I love the cascarita! She used her bare hands and dug into the meat. Then placed it on a weighing machine.

On the first floor of the market, locals were eating tortillas. These are sweet pancakes made of corn and cheese. One tortilla was sold for just 30 cents. I prefer these tortillas compared to the Mexican tortillas for burritos and tacos.

We went to a specialty store a few blocks from the market to try rosero, a special Gualaceo drink made of white corn, herbs, sugar, babaco, chamburos and fruits. They sold one for 50 cents.

After one hour of wondering in the market and streets near the market, we were ready for our cuy eating session. What I didn’t expect was the cuy was already being cut up, meaning the cooked cuy head was not on our plate. Danny was devouring the cuy while the rest of the family followed suit. Prior to Gualaceo we have tried fried cuy in Arequipa where a flatten cuy with its head, tail and feet were on our plate.

The cuy in Gualaceo was tastier. After the little sampling- one cuy for six people, Danny’s wife Daisy struck-up a conversation with the owner and the following incident was amazing. My son, husband and daughter were roasting cuy too (and the stranger in red as well).

The Andean guinea pigs (cuy) are raised for food not as pet like North Americans do. If you don’t think about it, it tastes like…meat!