Iguana, anyone?
Not discouraged by his experience eating the Peruvian delicacy of Cuy (fried guinea pig), Pete tested his palate and his stomach once again.
This time? Chopped iguana stewed in coconut.
By Pete’s excessive use of yummy noises, I would guess this culinary experiment was more enjoyable then the last. Or perhaps it’s because the iguana wasn’t wholly recognizable as an actual 
lizard, whereas the guinea pig was deep fried whole with eyes, claws and teeth all intact. Nevertheless, he successfully picked through all the bones and scaly skin (gross!) and finished every last bite.The taste and texture, he claimed, was similar to a stewed beef.
Tasty beefiness or not, I was having no part of it. In fact, my chicken even became a little harder to swallow, just from watching him pick through the iguana parts.
I swear, just like when he ate the cuy, a vow to become vegetarian was *this close* to escaping my lips. I will definitely keep the title of local-cocktail-expert instead.
I did, however, decide to do one small part in testing out the local delicacies – I indulged in a milk cookie. It was ginormous! And delicious!
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Cripes! He like it?!! Dalene, now you are going to have to be careful when he cooks you tacos (don’t fall for the ol’ switcharoo with the meats like I did!!)
Haha! Don’t worry…I’m carefully monitoring!!
hmmm…well, anything with coconut milk is good really, but Iguana? We’ve had three iguanas as pets — Alice, Maude, and Jeffrey. ugh.
Let’s hope the one Pete ate was not related…..
Tastes like crickets!
OMG, Pete ate their cousin for sure! Six degrees of Iguana Bacon! (waah waaaah!) (Sorry Patricia, I couldn’t stop my fingers from typing that.)
Nothing will beat the grossness of Cuy, in my estimation. Or anything else that was basically deep fried alive, staring at me…and with teeth no less. Blargh.
PS I guana milk cookie!
Ha! Brilliant. I had bought one a few weeks ago but it wasn’t near that big. They are very tasty!
Definitely makes me appreciate the tuna casserole that Shantel is cooking up just a little bit more!
I hate tuna, so it would be a tough decision for me if I was faced with both dishes. I think I’d have to choose the iguana (I can’t believe I just said that… =)
Forget it. I would choose to starve!
Yum! I’d try it!
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Right on, it was actually pretty tasty. A lot of bones, but definitely worth the try.
the guy ate a lizard? was it tasty?
He liked it!
I’m with you on the cookies. I used to have a pet iguana… and guinea pigs. I know, I know, it’s a different culture, but really… how can I eat my pets’ cousins, eh?
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That’s what I keep telling everyone when they try to get me to eat it…es una mascota!! It’s a pet! I just can’t do it.
Ah yes, “bamboo chicken” (as they call it in neighboring Belize). Coincidental that you should write about iguana, as I just posted Part 3 of my “So You Wanna Be an Int’l Tour Operator, Huh?” where I mention how (while guiding a group in Costa Rica back in the early 90’s) I once talked the Tico cook at our hotel at Manuel Antonio into sending her son into the rainforest to nab an iguana for the group’s dinner.
It was my 2nd dinner of iguana and… suffice that young lad must have nabbed the OLDEST iguana in all of Central America! (i.e. it was tough as nails, quite unlike the far more delectable “bamboo chicken” I had in Belize.)
That’s too bad that your 2nd go round was not as good an experience. The son was probably annoyed he had to go catch an iguana so he probably thought, i’ll get the oldest one I can find, ha! I’ve never heard the term “bamboo chicken” but we are taking Dalene’s Mom to try it tomorrow so we’ll ask the cook if she knows the term.