Why Coloradans call this dish Rocky Mountain oysters

DENVER ( KDVR ) — On some restaurant menus in Colorado, you’ll find one of the state’s most iconic dishes — Rocky Mountain oysters.

While these land oysters are harder to come by in this century, years ago, they were considered a popular bar food with ties back to cowboys in the 1800s.

How did Rocky Mountain oysters get their name?

When it comes to Rocky Mountain oysters, it all started with the cowboys, according to Rachael Storm, curator of business and industry at History Colorado .

Storm said there was minimal food on the range, so when cowboys castrated calves, no food went to waste.

“They had the testicles left over and it didn’t make much sense to let them go to waste when fresh food was rare out on the range,” said Storm.

After being pan-fried on a cast iron skillet, or even pan-fried and breaded if there was enough flour, Rocky Mountain oysters were born.

Being in Colorado, these “oysters” don’t come from the sea. The name most likely came from the fact that real oysters were prepared similarly and had the same texture, according to Storm.

While Rocky Mountain oysters originated from cowboys, eating the parts of castrated calves wasn’t a new practice.

“People have been eating testicles around the world for a very long time, so eating them was not new to Colorado,” said Storm.

In Canada, they call them prairie oysters, said Storm. They were named Rocky Mountain oysters because the meat itself came from the Rocky Mountains.

Rocky Mountain oysters become commercial meat

Rocky Mountain oysters were only eaten by cowboys until the 20th century when Storm said they became commercialized and seen as cheap meat next to main courses like a turkey feast.

After World War II, these oysters were still considered a cheap food item that was served at men’s clubs, cocktail lounges and bars, said Storm. Back in the day, ordering Rocky Mountain oysters at a bar was like ordering wings at a pub nowadays.

Rocky Mountain oysters continued as cheap bar food into the 1960s and 1970s, according to Storm. That is until the oysters became even more commercialized when the “Old West” food trend swept the nation.

Nation craved ‘Old West’ food

In the mid-90s, Rocky Mountain oysters became known as an “Old West” food, which was a national trend that piqued interest in Western tourism, said Storm.

“The same restaurants that served Rocky Mountain oysters also served buffalo burgers and rattlesnake meat as a form of historical food tourism,” said Storm.

Rocky Mountain oysters were a Colorado staple until the late 1980s to early 1990s when the Western craze died down. According to Storm, the oyster trend became less popular once chicken wings became the new “cheap bar food.”

While other meats have replaced Rocky Mountain oysters at many bars and restaurants, they are still on the menu in some spots around the state and are considered a part of Colorado’s history.

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