Calf fries are something between a tradition-rich delicacy and a dirty joke. They make cheeky menu items: "Great Balls of Fire" or "Rocky Mountain Oysters" - wink, wink. The simple fact is calf testicles are a byproduct of the ranching industry in Oklahoma, and historically, ranchers and cowboys couldn't afford to waste any parts. Even the, um, oysters. Cowboys made the best of whatever leftover parts they could snag on the range, hence dishes like "son-of-a-gun" stew (or its burlier name, "S.O.B. stew"). "Everything in the pot but the hair and the horns" - meaning sweetbreads, marrow gut from between the two stomachs, kidneys, heart, liver, brains and tongue. Cookbooks documenting cowboy cuisine say that originally, the testicles were thrown in the fire and used to heat branding irons until they were cooked through. Then they were skinned and eaten as is. Later, they figured out some parts are best dealt with deep fried. In Vinita, calf fries are no joke. The town proclaims itself the calf fry capital of the world, and it has yet to find a challenger to that title. At Vinita's annual "World's Largest Calf Fry Festival & Cook-off," they're dished up as part of a competition for serious bragging rights. They're served by the plate at the town's legendary Clanton's café...
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=370&articleid=20100926_39_D1_CUTLIN23914&allcom=1
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