While cuy is a delicacy in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, people still did a double-take when they saw a cuy-flavored ice cream at María del Carmen Pilapaña’s ice cream stall in Quito. The Ecuadorian woman is serving guinea pig up alongside mushroom and beetle ice creams.
“My family and my husband thought I was crazy,” Pilapaña told the Associated Press about the cuy flavor. “They didn’t think anyone would like these ice creams, but now they’re our main product.”
The ice cream is actually made out of cuy, which is made into a pate-like spread. It’s then blended with milk or cream and frozen. Pilapaña serves up about 150 servings of cuy a week at her small stall. While she has only been selling ice cream since September, she started the process more than six months prior. She took free entrepreneur training classes and then spent a few months concocting her unique flavors.
With the success, she’s had, she hopes to try other untraditional flavors, such as crab, chicken and pork. “Seeing how my business is picking up, I’m sure I’ll do well,” she said.