Guinea Pig in Brooklyn

[tommy]

i just don't get this. any of this.

[bigbear]

Cuy before.

[Fat Guy]

Orik, do you have a source on the kosher-guinea-pigs proposition?

[Sandra Levine]

capibara

It's spelled "capybara." It's a rodent, isn't it? How could it possibly be kosher?

[Fat Guy]

I'm with you, SL, but I thought I'd see where he got his info.

[cabrales]

Nina, Wlfrid and Cabrales -

Would you comment on the texture, flavour, etc of the internal organs? Specifically the heart and liver?  Did you find the "strong" taste more intense than the pig, etc sampled earlier?

Cabrales -

was the Lynch Bages '97 an educated guess on your part? I can't imagine there's much literature or experience on matching first and second growths with hedge hogs.

Many thanks

Paul

Paul -- I was eating salad and fried rice while Wilfrid and Nina were sampling the organs. As for the Lynch-Bagues pairing, Nina and I discussed whether the cuy might taste like squirrel. I posited the cuy would taste like venison or beef for some reason. I also thought the strength of a red wine relative to, say, a rose would assist me to take in the cuy.

[chopjwu12]

i fiance's grandmother loves cuy(they are all from ecquador) i want to try it preety bad. i will ask her all about it and get back to everyone on the traditional way of cooking it and seasoning it. Cuy isn't eaten in the mountains only from what i know of it. I mean city folk may not eat it as much but i think its a common thing there. But i will ask on that note too.

On a side note copybara is the worlds largest rodent isn't it? I aint kisher for sure But i think its preety big like cockerspanial sized.

[Fat Guy]

One of those guys could kick a cocker spaniel's ass! They're like a hundred pounds of rat. Cockers are small dogs; even the big English cockers are only like 30-35 pounds.

[bigbear]

Capybara is not cuy. Guinea pig is cuy.

[chopjwu12]

really they are that big huh? I knew they were big but i didnt know they were that big.

[Orik]

Orik, do you have a source on the kosher-guinea-pigs proposition?

Back in the late 80s, several Rabbis were willing to say capybara is kosher as it ruminates and has split hooves, although I'm not sure this ever became mainstream orthodox opinion. It was particularly important to some orthodox jews back in Israel, because like the pig, its heart valves are probably useable for transplants. I will try and find references, but most online news archives don't go that far back. I believe it is also one of those magical animals that have been given the status of fish.

In any event, it is not cuy.

[cabrales]

Below is a thread illustrating the beginning of the planning for the guinea pig excursion:

http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?s=...a+pig+in+queens

[LaNiña]

really they are that big huh? I knew they were big but i didnt know they were that big.

Oh yeah, capybaras are big. There's one at the Prospect Park Zoo, where I've been several times. Cute zoo in general - fantastic especially for younger kids.

[Wilfrid]

Let me see if I can elaborate on the descriptions of this dish, which was certainly more complex and challenging than I had expected. This did not taste like chicken.

A unique combination, in my experience, of gamey flesh and an almost suckling-pig-like skin. The skin was almost crisp, tantamount to crackling, and on some parts of the body had layer of tasty pork-like fat beneath it. The flesh was very dark, almost purple, and had a slippery, springy texture which strongly reminded me of silky bantam. It was the smell, specifically, which called to mind wild rabbit. This is a musty, faecal, strongly animal smell - if you have a kid who keeps hamsters (or indeed ginea pigs) take a sniff inside the cage. I find it in wild, but not domestic rabbit.

The actual flavor of the flesh was something else again. Very strong, gamey, and - as has been said - extremely salty. I remarked at the time, that the guinea pigs would have to live on salted cocktail peanuts for the flavor to be intrinsic. The restaurant imports them from Ecuador, and I think the most likely explanation is that they are preserved in brine at some point. The saltiness was not repellent, just very pronounced.

I certainly found the organs much stronger in flavor than rabbit or chicken. The mildest delicacy was probably the brain. Nobody except me seemed to bother with the potatoes, boiled and floury, which had soaked up some of the cuy fat in a way I found pleasant.

I liked the euphemistic title of the dish - papas con cuy - like it's just a potato dish which happens to have a rodent on top as a garnish. The dish also came with some utterly tasteless and unappealing corn preparation which everyone left.

Other dishes:

I think Cabby underestimates the seco de chivo, goat stewed in beer. I eat a lot of goat stews, and often find stringly, chewy scraps of meat, outnumbered by pieces of bone and gristle. This stew offered sizeable slabs of very tender meat in a delicious sweet broth. Good plus in my book, and if I ate at this restaurant regularly, I'd be eating the goat, not the cuy. $7 for a big portion with rice.

The whole grilled fish must have been good, because Beloved turned it into a pile of tiny clean bones before anyone else got a taste.

I was too busy with the meat dishes to get any ceviche or special fried rice either - also we'd eaten empanadas before entering the restaurant. An interesting expedition, and I have to say that in Nina I have finally found a more savage and ruthless carnivore than my poor timid self.

[cabrales]

An interesting expedition, and I have to say that in Nina I have finally found a more savage and ruthless carnivore than my poor timid self.

Wilfrid -- If you're timid, then what am I?

[Wilfrid]

A craven coward, Cabby, is the phrase which springs to mind.

By the way, we stopped off for palate-cleansing fresh juices when we got back to Avenue A, and found Benjamin Bratt and Talisa Soto sitting at the table outside our juice bar. At least, I detected Talisa Soto as soon as she waved at baby. Brief glossy magazine research later that afternoon identified the smooth dude as Benjamin Bratt.

[cabrales]

A craven coward, Cabby, is the phrase which springs to mind.  

I wouldn't dispute that, although it should be noted I will NEVER have "taking in" problems when one day I "encounter" the mythical ortolan. The French cuisine aspect of that would bolster my confidence even more.

It might be best to adhere to tomatoes for a while.

[jordyn]

Interesting that some effort may have been made to classify capybara as kosher. I'm led to believe that the Catholics in Venezuela categorize them as "fish" so that they can consumed during Lent. Perhaps for a time there were not a lot of tasty food options in the region.

[LaNiña]

I ate several pieces of potato, and enjoyed it. And I liked the goat stew very much. I have eaten those huge white corn kernels in other dishes, like cow's foot soup for example, and in those cases, they soaked up lots of flavor and the texture is appealing. I didn't understand the point of serving a plate of them with nothing at all. Bland doesn't begin to describe it.

[Wilfrid]

Cabby, when you have time, please considering explaining why you say "taking in" instead of "eating".

[LaNiña]

Wilfrid, I asked the same question on another thread last week, and she answered. No idea what it was, however.

Speaking of being more or less carniverous - did I eat anything you didn't? I don't think so...

[Jinmyo]

This did not taste like chicken.

cabrales, might I suggest the mythical ortolan might well be at its best wreathed in legend rather than burning your tongue, it's bones jabbing your gums?

I know of this "taking in". cabrales means the total experience of taste, texture, fragrance, colours.

[Wilfrid]

Wilfrid, I asked the same question on another thread last week, and she answered.  No idea what it was, however.

Speaking of being more or less carniverous - did I eat anything you didn't?  I don't think so...

No, but it would never have occurred to me to chomp on the feet if you hadn't set an example. And I was going to overlook (if I may) the eyeballs...

[Peter B Wolf]

Anyone interested to cook (roast or whatever) "Cuy" , friends of mine tell me you can purchase the ready to cook deep frozen ones at a place called "Carniceria las Americas", 43-53 45th Street, (Queens-Sunnyside), 718-937-0553. These Cuy are imported from Ecuador, and are selling for $14/15, that's about half as much as the ones raised in New Jersey(?). Sorry, that's all I got.

[Wilfrid]

My goodness. I wonder what other treats one might find at such a store?