# how do Peruvian guinea pigs compare with pigs as a source of meat?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 20, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961 "2011-02-20T00:57:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/1 "2011-02-20T00:57:12Z")
people in the Andean region have continued raising guinea pigs for meat even after contact with Europeans who brought regular pigs. Meanwhile, Europeans and Asians have continued raising pigs despite being in contact with the Andes and their guinea pigs.
Is this a matter of taste and sticking to tradition, let’s say on the part of the Andean people? Or are regular pigs not suited to the Andes? Or is the cost of meat from both sources essentially the same? Or how do they compare?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/2 "2011-02-20T00:59:01Z")
Being rodents, I would suspect that Guinea pigs are easier to raise.
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### Author:  [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/3 "2011-02-20T01:01:22Z")
I was in Peru last March/April and they were more of a delicacy. There were few places that served them and there just wasn’t that much meat on them (and the meat was more like the dark meat of a chicken). I only ate meat off of the back, I couldn’t eat the head or any other parts.
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### Author:  [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/4 "2011-02-20T01:26:56Z")
I wonder, if I wanted to try this (I don’t) could I legally buy and eat a guinea pig from an American pet store? I love dark chicken meat.
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### Author:  [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/5 "2011-02-20T01:32:07Z")
Yeah, very little meat on those suckers. Delicious though. And definitely more of a delicacy than a typical household staple.
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### Author:  [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/6 "2011-02-20T01:44:26Z")
> [@stpauler](#):
>
> I was in Peru last March/April and they were more of a delicacy. There were few places that served them and there just wasn’t that much meat on them (and the meat was more like the dark meat of a chicken). I only ate meat off of the back, I couldn’t eat the head or any other parts.
My husband and I went last July and thought the same thing. He ordered one for dinner and left hungry.
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### Author:  [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/7 "2011-02-20T01:51:54Z")
I wouldn’t call guinea pigs a delicaybut of course they are not staples.The problem is that despite their good taste, they carry little meat for their size and also that in the [traditional presentation](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Fw-PLX8rR4/TExmQ9s3aRI/AAAAAAAAADA/EErAQh7UA2k/s1600/cuy+chactado+2.JPG) they are "difficult to eat for many foreigners, particularly from those places where they are kept as pets.
New breeds have been developed recently that are meatierso that you can eat legs at thighs without excessive use of the hands.
The skin is delicious and the taste goes into the bones.
So, to answer the OP, the don’t compare well to pigs as sources of meat, but on the other hand they reproduce like horny catholic xerox machines with iregular periods, they can be kept in small places and are now more accepted outside the Andes. People form the coast with money considered GPs poor-people’s food that only your maid would eat, but now it’s crossed the social barrier with [more meat and better presentation.](http://www.imagehousing.com/imageupload.php?id=656477)
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/8 "2011-02-20T12:46:34Z")
A friend of mine took a picture of a roasted guinea pig she was served in Peru. As part of the preparation, they took a big green pepper, cut the blunt end off and made a little clown hat for the cavy to wear. The pointy end was shoved up the poor creature’s butt. They don’t just kill and cook it, they humiliate it as well.
I imagine it has about as much meat as pheasant. Not much, but tasty.
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/9 "2011-02-21T23:58:43Z")
I am not a dietitian, and I’ve never actually eaten a guinea pig. But I mentally compare eating guinea pigs to eating rabbits. Both can be cute and cuddly pets, but both are capable of being delicious. I’ve eaten rabbit and it was pretty good. Guinea pigs are similar to rabbits (in appearance and potential meat-bearing-ness) so it’s probably similarly good… but not very filling. I’m not sure how fatty guinea pigs are, but I know rabbits are so lean that eating an exclusively-rabbit-meat-diet will lead to starvation. I’m pretty sure this is not a problem when eating regular pork-pigs, as pigs have better-balanced fat deposits.
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### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/10 "2011-02-22T00:49:06Z")
I know in WWII in the USA they encouraged the rasing rabbits as a way to offset the high cost of meat. Would this be similar in taste or texture?
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/11 "2011-02-22T01:00:02Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> I am not a dietitian, and I’ve never actually eaten a guinea pig. But I mentally compare eating guinea pigs to eating rabbits. Both can be cute and cuddly pets, but both are capable of being delicious. I’ve eaten rabbit and it was pretty good. Guinea pigs are similar to rabbits (in appearance and potential meat-bearing-ness) so it’s probably similarly good… but not very filling. I’m not sure how fatty guinea pigs are, but I know rabbits are so lean that eating an exclusively-rabbit-meat-diet will lead to starvation. I’m pretty sure this is not a problem when eating regular pork-pigs, as pigs have better-balanced fat deposits.
I’ve only known Guinea Pigs as pets thus far, but I believe they’re a bit more fatty than rabbits - all they do is sit and eat, with the occasional excited scamper, whereas rabbits are built for speed. Not that innate athleticism necessarily has an absolute bearing on body fat accumulation, but here, I think it probably does. Rabbits are lean, muscular runners. Guinea Pigs are couch potatoes.
Otherwise, I expect the comparison is a fairly good one though.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/12 "2011-02-22T01:53:37Z")
> [@xoferew](#):
>
> I wonder, if I wanted to try this (I don’t) could I legally buy and eat a guinea pig from an American pet store? I love dark chicken meat.
I suspect there’d be some Outrage, but I don’t know if it would violate any laws.
They sell 'em in the frozen section of my local Ethnic Grocery Store in Chicago, though. Only $29.99 for a single frozen guinea pig. Sorry…_coy_. This is a store which often has ground beef for $1.39 and fresh chicken leg quarters for 85¢/lb, so it’s **muy caro**.
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/13 "2011-02-22T04:00:33Z")
Interestingly guinea pigs are called pigs precisely because they fulfilled the function that pigs did on board ship. No, not that, you dirty buggers, but as portable livestock who would eat the ship’s table scraps and not take up too much room. This was on the Pacific coast of the Americas, of course, other areas used pigs or goats.
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#):
>
> horny catholic xerox machines
Dave Barry, where are you when we need you?
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### Author:  [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/14 "2011-02-22T04:11:27Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> I know rabbits are so lean that eating an exclusively-rabbit-meat-diet will lead to starvation
Whoa, whoa whoa… that just sounds so … unlikely to have been proven. Is that a real thing? Or just sort of something truthy that you heard?
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### Author:  [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/15 "2011-02-22T04:13:38Z")
I say put 'em on a stick, deep fry 'em and sell then at county fairs. If you can sell deep fried Coke, candy bars, and Twickies, why not Guinea Pigs on a Stick?
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### Author:  [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/16 "2011-02-22T05:18:37Z")
> [@fighting\_ignorant](#):
>
> Whoa, whoa whoa… that just sounds so … unlikely to have been proven. Is that a real thing? Or just sort of something truthy that you heard?
Bear Grylls mentioned it in one of his shows and there’s a [Wikipedia article about it.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation)
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### Author:  [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/17 "2011-02-22T12:51:05Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> They sell 'em in the frozen section of my local Ethnic Grocery Store in Chicago, though. Only $29.99 for a single frozen guinea pig. Sorry…_coy_. This is a store which often has ground beef for $1.39 and fresh chicken leg quarters for 85¢/lb, so it’s **muy caro**.
Nitpick, it’s “cuy”.
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> I’ve only known Guinea Pigs as pets thus far, but I believe they’re a bit more fatty than rabbits - all they do is sit and eat, with the occasional excited scamper, whereas rabbits are built for speed. Not that innate athleticism necessarily has an absolute bearing on body fat accumulation, but here, I think it probably does. Rabbits are lean, muscular runners. Guinea Pigs are couch potatoes.
>
> Otherwise, I expect the comparison is a fairly good one though.
I’ve had both and I would say that there is some similarity, but that the rabbit’s muscles are much larger and longer. The rabbit, although bred for eating, was a bit gamier too. I should note that I’ve only eaten guinea pig in Peru at a pretty nice restaurant ([Tradición Arequipeña](http://www.frommers.com/destinations/arequipa/D50291.html)) and rabbit aka Hassenpfeffer at a local Twin Cities German restaurant called the [Black Forest.](http://www.blackforestinnmpls.com/)
Unless you’re eating the whole guinea pig, including the brains and the rest of the offal, I just couldn’t see it being a meal. And if you get a chance, watch the Globe Trekker episode where they go to Peru. The host orders it but just couldn’t bear to eat it as it’s served de-furred and whole. She brings it over to another table and the locals feast on it and one woman admits that the head is her favorite part.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/18 "2011-02-22T14:48:38Z")
> [@stpauler](#):
>
> Nitpick, it’s “cuy”.
Oh, dear. Sorry. I guess their sign writer’s not any better at spelling in Spanish than they are in English. I’ll remember that next time I pick up some pinapples and pepper’s. 😃
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### Author:  [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/19 "2011-02-22T15:09:48Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> They sell 'em in the frozen section of my local Ethnic Grocery Store in Chicago, though. Only $29.99 for a single frozen guinea pig. Sorry…_coy_. This is a store which often has ground beef for $1.39 and fresh chicken leg quarters for 85¢/lb, so it’s **muy caro**.
Then they must sell it somewhere in NYC. I know what I’m bringing to the next office potluck! 😉
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-peruvian-guinea-pigs-compare-with-pigs-as-a-source-of-meat/571961/20 "2011-02-22T21:26:16Z")
> [@fighting\_ignorant](#):
>
> Whoa, whoa whoa… that just sounds so … unlikely to have been proven. Is that a real thing? Or just sort of something truthy that you heard?
Yeah it’s true. It’s called rabbit starvation. Very interesting phenomenon!
I think it has something to do with the fact that rabbit meat is so low in fat, and the fact that processing it costs your body net calories (like celery). It’s like negative food.
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