NGM Blog Central - The Guinea Pigs of G-Force: They Taste Like Chicken But in 3-D - National Geographic Magazine

Utilizing 3D film technology in the most creative manner since, uh, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds, Disney's vermin-infested action movie G-Force became the number one movie in the country this weekend. Critics were unamused, families were delighted. And despite having exceedingly high expectations of a flick featuring Penélope Cruz as the voice of Juarez the guinea pig, in addition to the use of the exceptionally timeless song “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas (twice!), I (shockingly) found myself bored. And hungry.

For thousands of years, guinea pigs (or “cuy”) have been an important food/religious/tourist-shocking staple in Andean mountain culture. So entrenched are the critters in Peruvian history, you can find churches with artistic depictions of the Last Supper featuring Jesus and his disciples noshing on them.

Sadly, Biblical archaeological evidence on the veracity of Jesus eating guinea pig is scant. But really, all things considered, who can argue as to why "guinea is good" given the rousing endorsement by Alejandro Riveros, former head of public diplomacy for the Embassy of Peru:

"And it's tasty."

Perhaps that’s why guinea pig cuisine is spreading to sandwich makers in New Zealand, to Sunday Telegraph foodies in England, and to Germany, where PETA and the Stuttgard Guinea Pig Association were quite dismayed when a local church published a cookbook with a guinea pig recipe. It could also be that, as a protein source, guinea pigs take up very little space, are cheap to feed, reproduce easily, and can also be trained as covert secret agents for missions to save the world.

So in the next few weeks, as I try to get "Boom Boom Pow" out of my head, and as I search* for a Washington, D.C. area restaurant that serves up the fricasséed stars of the number one movie in America, I predict a rise in two things: 1) pet stores being flooded with guinea pig requests for the wee ones and 2) conversations like the following: “Hello! Thank you for calling Restaurante _____” “ Yes, hello! Do you happen to have dishes that feature guinea pig?” “Hello?” “Hello?”

-Ruben Rodriguez

*Please let me know if you know of any. I will duly report back.

Posted by Marc Silver | Comments (2)
Filed Under: Animals, Film, Movies, Pop Omnivore

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