Alpaca Meat, an Exotic Traditional Peruvian Food — Vera Aqua Vera Vita (2024)

FAQs

Can you buy alpaca meat in the US? ›

Exotic Meat Market® offers farm-raised Alpaca Meat in the USA. Exotic Meat Market offers fresh and frozen Alpaca Meat. Alpaca meat was once considered a delicacy by Andean inhabitants.

“Alpaca meat is one of the healthiest and most flavorful meats in the world,” Sierra Meats reports. “It is described as a mild meat which takes on the flavor of the dish. It is slightly salty, tender and lean, high in protein with no fatty aftertaste. Alpaca meat also has the lowest level of cholesterol of any meat.”

Alpaca is a mild red meat that is tender, extremely lean, and described by some as almost sweet. Its flavor closest to beef without the fatty aftertaste. Alpaca takes on the flavor of what it's mixed with making it a chef's favorite! Alpaca is a high protein, low-fat healthy choice meat.

The regional cuisine often uses alpaca meat in place of other animal proteins. For instance, in the Colca region, alpaca is used in place of beef when making lomo saltado, a popular stir fry eaten throughout the country.

Why are alpaca wool products so expensive? To put it simply: supply and demand. Compared to sheep wool, alpaca is harder to get, harder to process and more expensive to create. It costs us $32 per alpaca to shear our alpacas and obtain the fleece.

Prices vary depending on the breeding quality of the animal. You can purchase a beautiful gelding or fiber alpaca for around $500. However, a female that has a proven history of having quality crias will average between $2,000 to $10,000, while a proven herdsire can cost $5,000 and up. Why do they cost so much?

It also tasted great. Similar to beef, but you would never mistake the taste for being actual beef. Alpaca is definitely a dish I would recommend for anyone looking to break free of the confines of poultry, beef and mutton.

Due to its numerous beneficial qualities, alpaca wool is considered to be a luxury fabric. It is highly desired among consumers, and it often fetches a higher price than other types of wool.

Alpaca is warm, strong, soft, hypoallergenic, odour repellent, temperature regulating and sustainable. If you search the internet there are numerous claims about alpaca being warmer and lighter than Merino, environmentally friendly, wrinkle resistant, resistant to “bobbling” and even resistant to solar radiation!

Alpaca meat is described as having a gamey, goat flavour, and is spruiked as having almost no fat content.

Is alpaca milk drinkable? ›

Alpaca milk shows higher protein and ash contents with respect to other camelids milk, while llama milk has a very high lactose content; both llama and alpaca milk showed high nutritional quality, and should be considered an alternative food for humans in the semi-arid region of South America.

10. Alpaca and llama cheese (Andean communities in South American)

People have been eating them for centuries.

The Incas didn't have cattle; they had llamas and alpacas. And they have continued to be on menus across Peru, Chile, and Bolivia ever since.

With appropriate care, alpacas maintain very good health. As with all livestock, occasional health issues are found and this page may help the reader to recognise these. Please note: this information is provided only as a guide to the commoner illnesses in alpacas.

Although alpacas are mostly raised for their soft and luxurious fleece, they constitute a savory traditional food in Peru. The alpaca meat is a non-greasy meat whose flavor profile is like buffalo.

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There are about 53,000 alpacas in the United States and there are alpaca breeders right across the country from Florida to Alaska. The states with the largest number of alpacas are Ohio, Washington, Oregon, Colordo and California.

Alpaca meat is the byproduct of culling the herd ”“ but it's a tasty byproduct. Each mature alpaca harvested equates to about 60 pounds of meat ”“ roughly the same amount of meat you can get from a deer. Lean, tender and almost sweet, alpaca meat is nutritionally superior to many of its red meat counterparts.