I'm in the middle of doing a report on recipes, and such from the 1800's-1960's and I found these terms to be rather fascinatingly colorful, and helpful, as I wasn't sure I wanted to try a Pie topped with Calf slobbers... ;)
Below are some words used in reference to chuck, or for the non-cowboy, food, while they were on the trail.
Calf Slobbers – Meringue on a pie.
Fried Chicken – Bacon rolled in flour and fried.
Chuck Wagon Chicken – Fried bacon.
Charlie Taylor – A substitute for butter. A combination of molasses and bacon grease.
“Man at the Pot!” – Term yelled at a person pouring himself a cup of coffee. A cowboy’s way of saying, “Pour me a cup too.”
Spotted Pup – Cooking raisins in rice.
Stacked to a fill – Compliment to the chief following a great meal.
Dry Camp – A camp that has no water available.
Prairie or Mountain Oysters – Calf’s testicles.
Wreck pan: The pan in which cowboys placed their dirty dishes following a meal.
Squirrel can:The large can in which cowboys scraped the food scraps
before placing them in the wreck pan.
Cook’s last job of the evening:Point the tongue of the chuckwagon toward the north
so the herd could “follow the tongue” the next day.
Gut robber, greasy belly, biscuit shooter:Cowboys names for both the ranch house and trail drive cook.
Coffee recipe: A hand full of coffee for every cup of water.
Possum belly:A rawhide apron attached to the underside of the chuckwagon
in which wood and buffalo chips are stored for the dinner fire.
Why cooks threw dirty dishwater under chuckwagon: This helped protect the cook’s domain by discouraging cowboys
from taking a nap in the shade under the chuckwagon.
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