• Wolf Link 🐺@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Fun Fact; they’re called “Meerschweinchen” (“little pigs of the sea”) in German as they were imported by Spanish sailors (as food, not as pets). I know they have been used as lifestock in South America way before that, but the sailors were basically the first ever time Germans heard about those animals.

    The only thing I find a little weird about this picture is that it isn’t skinned. You can buy frozen whole rabbits in Germany, but they’re always skinned. Is this a hairless breed or did they somehow remove the fur?

    • OneOrTheOtherDontAskMe@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      From a food travel show some time back, it seems that a lot of places cook them with the hair on. Not all from what I saw, but not unheard of so maybe it’s a “don’t remove the fish head/eyes, some people like it” kind or thing.

      • Mkengine@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        I think in this time Guinea was a name for a far away place and not necessarily the origin.

        • KittenBiscuits@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Not Guinea, but I saw guinea pigs raised for food in a village in Tanzania. The local who owned them found it hilarious that we keep them as pets in the U.S. He asked me what we call them, and after i replied guinea pig, he said they definitely don't taste like pig.

    • Skwerls@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      There are hairless (mostly) guinea pigs, also known as house hippos. Not sure if that’s what they used here though. I don’t feel like I’ve ever seen an all pink one, they usually have some brown or black but 🤷‍♂️