Testicle (food)
The testicles of calves, lambs, roosters, and other animals are eaten in many parts of the world, under a wide variety of euphemistic culinary names. Testicles are a by-product of the castration of young male animals raised for meat, so they were probably a late-spring seasonal specialty,[1] though nowadays they are generally frozen and available year-round.
Cookery
Testicles are cooked in a variety of ways: sautéed and sauced, fricasséed, deep-fried with breading or batter, in pies, poached, roasted, and so on. Before cooking, they are generally scalded, skinned, and soaked in cold water.[2]
Names
Testicles are known by a wide variety of euphemisms, including 'stones', 'mountain oysters', 'prairie oysters', and so on.[1][3] Lamb testicles in particular are often called 'lamb fries' or simply fries (though that may also refer to other organ meats).[4] The French term "animelles" is occasionally encountered. In Spanish speaking countries in Central and South America they are known as huevos de toro, or 'bull's eggs'.
World variants
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Greece and Cyprus
In Greece and Cyprus,lamb testicles (Greek αμελέτητα) are often grilled on coals .
United States
In the United States, bull testicles are usually served breaded and deep-fried as an appetizer, under the name "Rocky Mountain oysters".
Notes
- ^ a b Laura Mason, in Oxford Companion to Food, s.v. 'Testicles'
- ^ Prosper Montagné, Larousse Gastronomique, 1938
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary s.v. 'stone' 11a, 'mountain' and 'prairie oyster' 2
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. 'fry' n2 2b
