Market Grill · Roasted Guinea Pig
Cuy Asado
Photo: Pedro M. Martínez Corada · https://martinezcorada.es / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
In Pasto's markets a whole roasted cuy is served splayed out with all four legs visible and the head often left on, a presentation style inherited from Quechua-speaking communities and Inca-era Andean cooking.
A whole guinea pig is cleaned, seasoned, and spit-roasted or grilled over coals until the skin turns crackling-crisp, then served whole with potatoes and a peanut or chili sauce. Market stands in Pasto sell it especially during the Carnaval de Negros y Blancos festival.
Why it's made this way: Nariño sits closer to Ecuador and Peru's Andean highlands than any other Colombian department, and its Quechua-influenced food culture kept cuy as an everyday protein long after it disappeared from most of the rest of the country.
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