Cooks not sheepish about their 'oysters'

Jennifer Gilbert of Sparks took a bite of the Wanton Wontons made by Gilbert's Gonads at the mountain oyster cook off Saturday, shook her head and reached for her friend's drink.

"Come on, it's good," he said.

"Just because you know what's in there," she said with a frown. It was her first taste of mountain oysters, aka sheep testicles.

She was one of thousands who crowded onto Virginia City's C Street for the 13th annual Mountain Oyster Fry and St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday.

The parade started about 11 a.m. up at the Fourth Ward School. Leading the parade with Irish and Scottish flags were two Irish folks. Tommy Pigot came from County Cork in southern Ireland 23 years ago. His partner came from County Klare. Her name is Joanne Pizzamiglio.

"Her father was Italian," he explained.

Parade participant Carey Kling's name is Irish -literally.

"Everyone calls me 'Irish,'" he said.

The Silver City resident drove a '68 Jeep Willys with a sign reading "Comstock Irish Army K-9 Unit." His name is tattooed on his left arm.

"And I got a big silver belt buckle that says 'Irish,' too."

Sonny Smith of Smith Valley rode a blind horse named Bumper in the parade. Another horse named Jake served as the lead.

"I been doin' parades up here about six, seven years," he said. "I love it - especially on horseback."

Karen Tassone rode in a truck pulling the decorated boat of the Virginia City Yacht Club.

"We love the wacky events of Virginia City," she said.

"And they are wacky," said the driver, Bruce Burke. He leaned on the horn and the crowd cheered.

Terry and Betty Lee of San Jose came up for the day from South Lake Tahoe where they are staying for the weekend.

"We just came up here - we didn't know there was going to be a parade," he said with a big smile.

"Yeah this is a bonus," said his wife. They hadn't heard of the testicle festival either, but said they'd check it out.

Lee and JoEllen Fonzo have been involved with the cook off for a decade.

"We've been cooking 10 years together," she said, lowering vegetables into a steamer for her corned balls and cabbage.

"We've lost every year."

Odie Reed has a stronger record. He's won trophies for best overall taste the last three years. He cuts each testicle into eight pieces, rolls them in flour and bread crumbs, wraps them in bacon and deep fries them.

"Of course you have to marinate them first -marinate them as you see fit - I can't give away my secret."

Reed, currently cooking for the Pinon Plaza in Carson City, offers three dipping sauces: Teriyaki, barbecue and cognac truffle.

Ron Bevers of Sparks tried mountain oysters for the first time Saturday.

"The Rocky Mountain Oysters are very mild," he said, contemplating his palate. "It's a very mild meat, reminds me more of a pork than, say, beef."

John and Millie Beal were impressed by the turnout. He was taking digital pictures to put on his Nevada hot springs Web site: www.soak.net

"This is great," he said. "Virginia City needs more events. People need more going on. Everything seems to happen from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It's too concentrated."

As he spoke the Saddle Rash Bluegrass band strummed their strings and sang into the microphones. The sky was blue above the crowd.

Contact Karl Horeis at khoreis@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.