The Pacheco family was delivered a smallish rodent sent by a friend of theirs from the coast. The animal came via land, wrapped in bags of ice. It was the size of a small pig.
Guanta or Paca
According to Frommer’s, the animal is a forest dwelling creature that feeds on fallen fruit, nuts and leaves. With such a diet you might think it would taste good. Maybe it was the fact that I had seen the corpse hang out in the sink before trying it (see above), or the fact that I couldn’t get the idea of a giant rodent out of my head, but either way I wasn’t able to eat very much of it.
It was prepared with a maracuya (passion fruit) sauce and was roasted. The final product could have passed for beef, or possibly pork in appearance and odor. It smelled like bacon in the pan.
Nothing like a large rodent for dinner. I’m glad I can say I have tried Guanta.
