CreativeDominant
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Not sure whether anyone is aware of it or not but our own dear mistoferin has some rather eclectic food tastes. So, I thought I would tempt her to come see me with restaurant descriptions of one of her favorite foods: Rocky Mountain Oysters...
AS PATI NUCE pulls a flat, breaded and fried piece of food out of the basket on her table, her face starts to contort. Her eyes scrunch into slits. Her mouth tightens into a disgusted pucker, like she's about to eat a breaded cockroach.
But she's a trouper: Slowly she puts it in her mouth and closes her eyes. She chews, almost painfully, before swallowing. The food tastes a little like chicken tenders, she says.
Someone else at Taste Buds Restaurant in Calhan says the little strips taste like chicken-fried steak. Shrimp, another pipes in.
But Bill Elwood offers a more direct description.
"Balls," he says bluntly.
Bingo! That's just what these people are eating -- bull testicles, better known as Rocky Mountain oysters. Go ahead and giggle. You know you want to -- and most people do, say the owners and managers of restaurants that serve them. After the giggle, some pale, like Nuce. Some refuse to eat them. But it's no bull: A lot of folks actually get excited when they see Rocky Mountain oysters on the menu.
"We have a lot of people who come in especially for it," Taste Buds owner Connie Johnson says.
"I would recommend them highly," customer Merlin Beedy says.
Taste Buds server Cindy Elwood has had customers order Rocky Mountain oysters for breakfast. She, too, sometimes orders them as her first meal of the day.
"It's an acquired taste," she says. "I can't put a name on it."
The practice of eating this part of an animal's anatomy dates back to Roman times, according to Linda Stradley, creator of the What's Cooking America Web site (www. whatscookingamerica.net). The Romans thought eating the organ of a healthy animal would improve the health of the corresponding human organ. And ancient Romans haven't been alone in the theory: In Asia, animal testicles are considered an aphrodisiac, according to the site.
In today's Wild West, eating Rocky Mountain oysters is less about boosting the libido and more of a novelty or a way to show one's regional spirit.
Jeff Jergensen, owner of The Broiler Room in Monument, says a family reunion group came in this summer, playing a "Fear Factor"- style game with the food.
"Everyone had to have at least one Rocky Mountain oyster in the group," says Jergensen, whose customers go through one to two 10- pound cases a week.
The dish is less common at the Briarhurst Manor in Manitou Springs, where patrons who want it must call ahead.
"They're not the world's most popular item," says Ken Healey, president of Briarhurst Manor.
Executive Chef Lawrence Johnson has gone beyond the typical when preparing the oysters. He's made pastrami out of them, and even corned them and turned them into little Reuben sandwiches, made with pumpernickel bread and served with red-cabbage sauerkraut.
Most restaurants, though, serve the oysters fried, with cocktail sauce, which actually gives the illusion that you're eating something from the ocean.
Still, that's not enough to persuade some people to pop one in their mouth.
"No, no, no," one woman said when presented with a sample at Taste Buds.
"I'll pass," said another.
If only they were as brave as Nuci. Maybe then they'd discover that Rocky Mountain oysters taste like chicken tenders. Or fried shrimp.
"They don't taste funny," said Jergensen. "It's just getting over the stigma of eating Rocky Mountain oysters."
TASTERS SAY...
What do Rocky Mountain oysters taste like? Depends who's doing the tasting.
We asked about 20 customers at Taste Buds Restaurant in Calhan to test three batches of Rocky Mountain oysters, served with cocktail sauce. Some had tried them before, others hadn't.
Their comments:
Bill Young, 38, Peyton. He'd eaten Rocky Mountain oysters before, but not regularly.
"They don't really have a taste. All I tasted was the bread.... "I like them better than calamari."
Charley Armer, 64, Calhan. An RMO veteran. He says the taste depends on how they are cooked. "Sometimes they're tough as a leather boot because of the cook." He gave the Taste Buds oysters a thumbs-up.
Christopher and David Richardson, visiting from Harrisburg, Pa.: First-timers. "You mostly just taste the batter," said David, 14. He and his 11-year-old brother also said they tasted like shrimp.
Dave Richardson, 63, Colorado. He too had tasted the oysters before.
"They actually taste a bit like fried oysters."
Rick and Pam Faler, both 50, of Black Forest. First-timers who said the oysters taste like chicken-fried steak.
George Bourbeau, 67. An RMO fan. "When you have them with the sauce, it tastes very much like oysters."
So come on folks...any regional delicacies you can tempt her to come see you for? Cuz we all KNOW she's going to be on her way here to see me now and have me take her out for some of these Rocky Mtn. favorites.
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Just for Mistoferin...to get her on the road - 
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