They don't call 'em River Rats for nothing

Bruce Auden of Biga on the Banks has sent out a newsletter and includes some tidbits from his recent trip to Peru. We are just a little bit concerned.

“Guinea Pig (Cuy) soup is a great way to start the hike up the Inca trail. I did have to say no to one item in the forest (Zuri) large white grubs found in the trunk of the palm trees, cut for hearts of palm, but did find the Capybara (bottom image) rodent quite tasty. Restaurants Ma Mason in Cuso comes highly recommended and the chef/owner will be traveling to SA fairly frequently as he will be serving on the advisory board of the CIA at the Pearl here in SA.

Not withstanding the drive for authenticity in our New World foods, I am just a bit worried about finding rodent in any form on a local menu — and our lovely river inhabitant Nutria (top image) just might fit the bill of fare. I do see from my haphazard web research that the Capybara is more the size of a small pig or javelina, so perhaps the Nutria is safely too small to bother with (except for soup perhaps?)