From: Huffington Post Every September, the town of La Quebrada
holds a huge celebration to honor Santa Efigenia, a saint
especially revered by Peruvians descended from African slaves,
according to the Associated Press. Part of the celebration
includes La Festival Gastronomico del Gato, (The Gastronomic
Festival of the... commemorating the time when early settlers
were forced to survive on cat meat, or so the story goes. Dozens
of cats are bred specially for the feline feast, the BBC
reports. Featured dishes include spicy cat stew and grilled cat
with native huacatay herbs, and the meat reportedly has a flavor
similar to rabbit. PETA drew its claws in protest of the event
in 2008, according to the Mirror, but apparently to no effect.
Some locals say the meat can cure bronchitis and boost
fertility. Not only that, but Peruvian folk wisdom has it that
consuming cat works as an aphrodisiac. Or maybe we're
translating that too literally.