It was a fine Friday night in Canton on Feb. 28 at the American Legion Post 192.
With the smell of fried meat wafting through the air and the babble of boisterous conversation providing the soundtrack, men perched on metal folding chairs bellied up to rows of tables occupying all available floor space as they ate their fill of beans, potato salad, cooked ham, and the main course — lamb fries.
They are a delicacy.
More often than not, though, lamb isn’t used. Instead, they are steak fries, or mountain oysters.
For the uninitiated, mountain oysters — also known as calf fries, prairie oysters, cowboy caviar, Rocky Mountain oysters, Montana tenders, swinging beef, or even huevos de toro in Spanish-speaking countries — are a delicious food that consists of, according to Luke Runyon writing for NPR, “skinned, sliced, battered, deep-fried bull testicle” that diners dip “into a cup of cocktail sauce.”
The spicy cocktail sauce is my favorite.
No matter the creature, when prepared properly, few things tickle the tastebuds like these castration scraps. Perhaps that’s why they are served as appetizers and as a main course.
But, other than the fact that they are delicious, it’s worth considering a little history regarding this tasty testicle treat.
First, we must understand that mountain oysters fit into the category of food products referred to as offal. According to “Offal: A Global History (Edible)” by Nina Edwards, “‘Offal’ suggests what falls off or away after the animal is slaughtered and what is left after the butcher has taken his prime cuts: the inner parts of an animal, that stew of slippery organs, glands, vessels, blood and tissue.”
Though perhaps they are viewed negatively, these butchering byproducts can still be useful.
According to research published in 2018 by the academic journal “Toxicology Reports,” the first Olympians ate “offal” fries because even “in 700 BCE there was an awareness that heightened testosterone would increase performance. With no syringes or hormones in injectable liquid form, it was left to the athletes to gorge on animal hearts and sheep testicles in search of potency. Athletes could also eat a delicacy we know today as Rocky Mountain oysters. And in that way, they would boost their levels of testosterone.”
I doubt anyone showed up to the Canton Legion focused on the health benefits, though.
Rather, it seems more likely the reason rural folks in the Midwest eat them stems from tradition.
According to Jade Umberger writing for The Center for Regional Agriculture, Food, and Transformation (CRAFT) at Chatham University, “During Westward expansion in the US, testicles were a source of extra calories along the trail for cow folk come springtime as young bulls were castrated to control breeding herds. In cattle communities, farmers and farmhands cook up testicles for a snack on their branding iron stove while herding calves through fences for vaccination, branding, dehorning, and, for the lucky young steers, castration.”
Our rustic roots are surely the reason Canton and countless other communities hold “testicle festivals” throughout the year, and why The Prairie Nut Hut is a real restaurant in Altoona, Kansas.
People love them.
As Anissa Helou wrote for The Guardian, mountain oysters are a food “that most people reject outright, simply because of what they are. If they only knew how delicious the taste is and what a delicate, melting texture testicles have, they wouldn’t be so hasty in their rejection.”
So if you haven’t ever tried them, I encourage you to give lamb fries or calf fries a shot. They truly are delicious. You’ll enjoy them. One might even say you’ll have a ball eating them.
Todd R. Vogts, Ph.D., is a native of Canton, a resident of McPherson County, and an assistant professor of media at Sterling College. He can be contacted with questions or comments via his website at www.toddvogts.com.
