Rat on a stick coming to Cuba

[El Presidente]

 

 

Cuba encourages the consumption of guinea pig meat as an alternative food source

Using official state media, the Cuban government is encouraging the population to eat cuy or curiel [a type of guinea pig] meat, according to a report in the National News broadcast on television.

The initiative presented on national television comes from a culinary workshop in the province of Mayabeque where the animals are bred. For many Cubans these animals are pets they have in their homes, but they are now told they can also be an alternative food source.

According to the report, this would be “a fast and sustainable alternative that will bring about food sovereignty,” especially with the crisis in food production the island faces worsened by the health crisis and the low number of tourists that have visited Cuba this year.

In the report, experts are cited saying “the protein content of cuy meat is 19%,” which they say is above the percentage found “in pork and beef.” The report later adds that “consuming [the meat] is a key ally in the battle against anemia and malnutrition.”

“We have to teach others how to breed and produce cuy, as well as expand the knowledge of its nutritional value so this protein can become a part of the family meal,” the Cuban reporter stated.

[NSXCIGAR]

You know if this is being officially endorsed it's already been going on for some time...

Also, I must say, the scorched rodent looks very well-garnished. Another reminder of the importance of presentation.

[Cazador]

They taste fine.

[MrBirdman]

Good Lord...if they’re onto recommending guinea pigs it must mean they’ve started to run out of stray dogs. 

[Fugu]

Makes no sense for the aim they are heading for.

[Trimming]

In Peru, Columbia, Ecuador and other Countries has been a good source for Centuries.

When domiciled pets in one country become a food source in another, always makes for unsettling emotions.

[Habana Mike]

Can't wait to try one from the grill at La Terrazza!

[benfica_77]

Cuy is a traditional dish in Peru. Friends chickened out and wouldn't order with me when we were in Peru. 

[Fugu]

1 hour ago, Trimming said:

When domiciled pets in one country become a food source in another, always makes for unsettling emotions.

Not the point, not mine at least. No problem with eating cuy, not at all. Delish little rodents. Yet I doubt it will be the go-to future solution to the quest for sustainably supplying the Cuban population with protein. By proposing such, the “government “ is patheticly missing the point. Utter confession of incompetence, that’s what it is.

[Fezztone]

Mom, Patches got out of his cage.  Just eat your chicken and we will look for him later. 

[DaBoot]

It’s not like they are adding this animal to the list of other protein sources to choose from, they are saying it’s your only choice?. Hopefully brighter days are ahead on the island 

[BoliDan]

2 hours ago, Habana Mike said:

Can't wait to try one from the grill at La Terrazza!

My thoughts too. Ive always wanted to try the Peruvian version, just never had a reason to go there. I like to try weird stuff. I guess I could just get the recipe and go to the pet store...

[Ryan]

Cubans have been eating Hutia for centuries. Large, rat-like things. I've seen them for sale, live in cages, in Habana Vieja as food. I haven't seen one on a menu in any restaurant I've been in, but wouldn't be surprised at all if many of us have tasted it.

[NSXCIGAR]

[Hookmaker]

A perfectly fine eating I’d say. I had them in Peru on several occasions and they’re quite tasty. The neat thing is, that you can have them living in the kitchen ie under the stove, provided you have a sunken floor that is, so that they don’t roam all over the place. And: they’re self replenishing - they breed like rats


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nino]

7 hours ago, Ryan said:

Cubans have been eating Hutia for centuries. Large, rat-like things. I've seen them for sale, live in cages, in Habana Vieja as food. I haven't seen one on a menu in any restaurant I've been in, but wouldn't be surprised at all if many of us have tasted it.

Correct @Ryan.

The reason you haven't seen them on the menu is that in Cuba Jutias are protected as a "strategic food reeserve" for the military - I am NOT kidding. But they are widely eaten and I've had a few at Bay of Pigs, nice meat in a stew.

Recently a Supreme Politburo member, General Frias recommended on tv the use of ostriches, cocodriles and jutias as a food source starting a funny meme storm ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48021656

 

 

Quote

 

An animal exotic to most Cubans has become an online obsession - but not for the reasons one of the island's revolutionary heroes was hoping.

It all started when Comandante Guillermo García Frías, 91, a former comrade-in-arms of the late leader Fidel Castro, recommended the ostrich as a nutritious supplement to the Cuban diet.

In fact, he said on state television, it could produce "more than a cow", raising more than a few eyebrows across the communist-ruled country and leading to ridicule on social media.

He made the suggestion as director of Cuba's National Flora and Fauna company, which raises ostriches and experiments with other farming ideas in an attempt to resolve one of the Cuban socialist economy's most enduring headaches: shortages of basic food, such as meat, milk and eggs.

The white-haired comandante, who appeared in his olive-green military uniform, also suggested that Cubans consider adding two local species to their menu - the crocodile and the jutía (hutia), an edible rodent also known as the "banana rat".

 

 

 

 

 

[Akela3rd]

Crocodile and ostrich are both good eating. You can occasionally get ostrich here in the UK in supermarkets and I've had crocodile at Archipelago in London. With a side order of fried ants.
Of course the main problem with both is getting them to cooperate in the cooking process

Sent by spooky action at a distance

[RijkdeGooier]

Looks like we're going back to the special period menu.

[Greenhorn2]

I can't knock the ostrich or Guinea pig because I haven't tried it but some gator is pretty darn tasty. ?

[Cold Smoke]

Makes me want to slowly chew a good steak while drinking to the demise of communism.

 

"Let them eat rat."

[Nino]

6 hours ago, Greenhorn2 said:

I can't knock the ostrich or Guinea pig because I haven't tried it but some gator is pretty darn tasty. ?

Tried all three and my preference would be for ostrich which was excellent in South Africa's Oudtshoorn ostrich farm and Knysna Bay many years ago.

Second would be gator - also very good both in Singapore and Bay of Pigs.

[topdiesel]

Can't be any worse than the duck?