Rocky Mountain Oysters, Yum!

 

 Lately my thoughts and blogs have circled around food, normal and a little off-market-type.  I once wrote about the roasted hog’s head on the kitchen table.  

Another food item was Rocky Mountain Oysters, also called nuts. This meant that the product was actually castrated testicles from steers and hogs. Information can be found at Castle Farm services

 

 This video is an in-depth explanation and demonstration of castration of hogs. Don't watch it, unless you have farm animal experience. I put this up for some bloggers to enjoy.

I know, it sounds brutal, but this method of sterilization takes the hormonal urges that a steer would experience. It keeps the breeding limited to the stud bull and boar.

On our hog farm, Dad did castrated pigs when they have "nuts". Once when I was 8, he wanted me to pick up the nuts after he cut and tossed them over his shoulder.  I was okay with the picking up, but the squealing really frightened me. 

At dinner time, Mom and I took those slimy bits, scrubbed them and rinsed in brine.  She breaded and then deep fat fried.  And they were delicious. When he cut the next bunch, I helped and then I discovered what those were, and that we were eating them. My delight in these quickly dissipated.

Life is not so much about what we have eaten, but it is more about the foods we have not yet eaten.  This topic all depends on the spirit of adventure, how much one possesses of that elusive spirit, and whether one responds positively to going with the spirit.

Let’s face it: how many traditional Thanksgiving meals can one take?  How many pot roasts?  How many gallons of homemade mashed potatoes?  Well, on the potatoes, I can still eat more of them, and pumpkin pie. But, as for other normal meals, don’t you ever get tired of them? 

 

 

A family friend had caught a snapping turtle, and knew Mom could cook about anything.  He cleaned it (nasty job, I tell you), and Mom made a stew. It was delicious, but I quietly noted that the bones were not beef bones. She gave me a look and a smile, as she served it up. My brothers, being dim even on good days, enjoyed it until the end when they could see that those bones were different.  Mom shrugged her shoulders, and I smiled.

 

Other unusual food products are:

 

Here are some bizarre foods that have made their way into people's plates you may have never heard of.

 

Fried Alligator on a Stick. ...Not available at that time.

Road Kill. ...not on my plate

Provel Cheese. ...St. Louis MO, product

Poop on a Shingle. ..This is ground beef or turkey on a roll, covered with gravy..
 

Frog Legs. ...bad texture, made me gag.

Fried Rattlesnake. ...had some in Phoenix, AZ. Over cooked, it was like eat balls of rubber.
 

Chocolate-Covered Grasshoppers. ...Who hasn't enjoyed this product??

Beef Tongue...Dad liked it, but I wasn't starving enough to try it.
 

Calf brains, also called "sweetbread"

What have you eaten or tried to eat? Go ahead, be bold. List those unusual foods!