The Unusual Fried Meat That Got Its Start In The Old West

The dish is known by many names. Rocky Mountain oysters. Bull fries. Cowboy caviar. Huevos de toro, if you want to get a little bilingual with it. Really, it's just a way to avoid saying what it actually is, because chances are it would put off most people fixing to eat it. In short: It's bull testicles. It may sound unsavory, but Rocky Mountain oysters originated as a food eaten by cowboys in the Old West, and remains something of a tradition to this day.

Back in the Old West, when cowboys handled massive herds of cattle, one of the less pleasant tasks involved castrating young bulls to keep them docile and to prevent the herd from expanding to an unmanageable extent. (Cowboys may be idealized figures these days, but it was a dirty, often grueling job.) That meant cowboys would be left with what can only be described as "too many bull testicles." So what could they do? Well, they were edible, and a rich source of protein to boot. That made it useful for fortifying cowboys' strength with a quick and easy munchie. (That's right, cowboys were proteinmaxxing through bull offal; you, on the other hand, can buy these 14 protein-rich foods from your local grocery store.)

So what do Rocky Mountain oysters taste like? Well, despite the name, they don't necessarily taste like seafood, although their texture has been compared to calamari. They taste gamey but not unpleasantly so, often being compared to venison (as well as, you guessed it, chicken). Generally speaking, offal is awful to Americans, so we're willing to bet most people won't rush to try it. But if you can push past the knowledge that you're eating testicles (admittedly, a tough ask for some), it's a rewarding experience.

We assume so, anyway, judging from the festivals that sprout up surrounding this curious delicacy. There are a number of towns which run events devoted to cooking and eating Rocky Mountain oysters, both inside and outside the Rocky Mountains. In Colorado, there's an event called the Nut Run in a town called Severance that, let's just say, lives up to its name. (Its slogan is "Where The Geese Fly And The Bulls Cry.") Then there's the town of Virginia City, confusingly located in Nevada, which holds a Rocky Mountain oyster festival on St. Patrick's Day each year. Maybe you'll want to add some of those food festivals to your bucket list, or maybe you'll pass on the testicles for the time being. Either way, at least somebody's having fun, even if the bull, presumably, isn't.