Real Cowboys Used To Eat This Hearty Stew Filled With 'Non-Mentionable' Ingredients

A century of Western-themed popular culture — including films like "Red River" and "Unforgiven" and television series like "1883" and "Deadwood" — has depicted the American Old West as a place that required considerable grit to survive. That necessary mettle even extended to the food on the frontier. Eating fried bull testicles, or Rocky Mountain oysters, got its start in the Old West, and the staples real cowboys ate included such no-frills items as salt pork, wild game, and various stews. Among the latter was one hearty meal with an ingredient list that gave Rocky Mountain oysters a run for their money: son-of-a gun stew, which was made from the parts of a cow that aren't often featured in beef recipes.

According to David Davis, chief curatorial officer at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, son-of-a-gun stew was typically made at the launch of a new cattle drive. "What made this stew a little different was the use of pretty much all the innards," Davis told The Takeout. "I've heard one quote that it used everything but 'the hair, the horns, and the holler!'" 

To make son-of-a-gun stew — which was also known by a similar-sounding but less polite name — beef organs and meat were added to a boiling pot. "A little later, the sweetbreads, brains, and other non-mentionable soft tissues are added to the mix," Davis shared. Vegetables and spices may have been included sometimes, though some records indicate that it wasn't typical for veggies beyond an onion to be part of the recipe.

A cowboy's diet, especially on the cattle trail, was dependent on what could be transported in the chuck wagon. That, more often than not, was simple fare that couldn't spoil: sourdough bread and biscuits, beans, and coffee. Such a diet didn't provide sufficient protein for a cowhand's hard work, which made the meat-heavy son-of-a-gun stew both a crucial meal and a welcome alternative.

However, making traditional son-of-a-gun stew using every part of the cow is probably not on most home chefs' bingo cards, especially since many Americans think offal is awful (pardon the pun). But there are a number of modified recipes, allowing picky eaters to dine like our cowboy forebears without contending with what sweetbreads actually are. Most 21st-century takes are still meat-forward, with stew meat or London broil among the cuts of choice. Onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and pearl barley are also frequently cited as ingredients, and some recipes include cabbage and cornmeal dumplings.

The usual tips for preparing the best beef stew apply to son-of-a-gun stew, too. Chief among these: Avoid the major beef stew timing mistake and make sure to simmer it for at least two hours on low heat. You can also take a tip from Martha Stewart — that cowboy icon — and add the sweet ingredient she uses to elevate beef stew: balsamic vinegar.