Son of a gun/bitch stew (1933)

Wed Aug 2 23:03:12 UTC 2006

I've added "son of a gun stew" ("son of a bitch stew") to my website.
However, I still don't get the full text of the Dallas Morning News. America's
Historical Newspapers has the Dallas Morning News pre-1923, plus Texas Siftings
(19th century). It's too hot to walk to the NYPL today.
...
Can someone check these databases for cites for this stew? Does OED or does
DARE have this "stew" prepared for a new entry?
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Also check for "cowboy stew."
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...
...
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/son_of_a_bitch_stew_s
on_of_a_gun_stew/_
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/son_of_a_bitch_stew_son_of_a_gun_stew/)
...
22 October 1933, New York Times, pg. 8:
ROGERS ROPES FARLEY
IN TEXAS RANCH RODEO

<i>POSTMASTER GENERAL LEARNS COW-</i>
<i>boy Name for Beef Stew -- </i>
<i>Garner Quits Tour.</i>

ANACACHO RANCH, Texas, Oct. 21 (AP). -- James A. Farley, Postmaster  General,
knows today that "son-of-a-gun" in cowboy parlance means a meat stew.  But he
did not find out until after Will Rogers, humorist, had roped him by the
heels as he ran down a private right-of-way at the R. W. Morrison ranch.

23 November 1939, Washington <i>Post</i>, pg. 2:

Incidentally, (Vice President -- ed.) Garner has the reputation of being an
expert at making "son-of-a-gun" stew, a cow-country dish, which varies widely,
 according to who dictates the ingredients -- and according to what
ingredients  are at hand. Today Garner planned to cook over a campfire, but whether it
was  venison steak, breast of wild turkey or wild duck, or just another batch
of  "son-of-a-gun" stew, his fellow townsmen were uninformed.

17 May 1940, Washington <i>Post</i>, pg. 14:
<i>Texas Blends Mexican</i>
<i>And Ranch Cooking</i>

Mrs. Richard Kleberg Gives Recipes
For Enchiladas While Husband Tells
How to Make Popular Son-of-a-Gun-Stew
By Martha Ellyn
(...)
Chuckwagon parties are still a part of Texas life. On the ranch of
Congressman Richard M. Kleberg of Texas, chuckwagon barbecues are often given. I
learned from Mr. Kleberg that besides barbecueing beef and goat at such
gatherings, that he often serves a concoction called "son-of-a-gun stew." This stew is
allowed to cook all the time that the animals are being roasted. Pan bread,
Mexican rice, beer and coffee are other foods served from the chuckwagon. Mr.
Kleberg gave me the ingredients used for making the "son-of-a-gun stew," and
the amount of each used will be dependent on the number to be served.

Son-of-a-gun Stew -- Use kidneys, liver, sweet breads and beef. Add
onions, corn and potatoes. Add plenty of seasonings and simmer until the meats
are very tender.

June 1942, Gourmet, "Saddle Seasoning: Cooking on the Texas Range,"
pg. 7, col. 1:
Dinner will be, basically, son-of-a-gun (col. 2 -- ed.), sourdough biscuits,
cowboy beans, and calf fries.

The proper name for son-of-a-gun is son-of-a-bitch, but for  the benefit of
the cowboys, who are averse to saying such things in the presence  of ladies,
it is commonly called son-of-a-gun. It is an unbelievably  delicious concoction
invented by some long-forgotten chuck wagon  cook. Nobody knows the correct
proportions of the various ingredients  except the cook who is about to prepare
it, and he doesn't know how much of what  he has used when he gets it in the
pot.  The utensils necessary to prepare  the dish are an iron or an enamel
kettle, a butcher knife, and a long-handled  iron spoon. The ingredients which,
except for (col. 3 -- ed.) the salt and  pepper, are all taken from a freshly
killed beef, are as follows: marrow gut,  cut in not more than quarter-inch
lengths, diced lean meat, kidney fat, brains,  sweetbreads, and finely chopped
kidney, all of which are placed in the cooking  vessel with a small quantity of
water increased as required throughout the  cooking process, and are then
allowed to cook for not less than 12 hours. Some  cooks add a dash of sage, and
others, chili; but the old chuck wagon cook sticks  to salt and pepper and says,
"all them things is sissy." The natural  complement for son-of-a-gun is
cowboy beans, which are pinto beans boiled with  "anything handy chunked in."
(...) Chili powder may be added to advantage,  along with the must-be onions,
garlic, and suet.

9 May 1946, Walla Walla (WA) Union-Bulletin, pg. 7:
"Son-of-a-Gun Stew," described as a sampling of the SOuthwest is a
collection of stories and articles from the Southwest Review.

29 September 1947, Olean (NY) Times Herald, pg. 5::
It will start off with "chow" from six to eight o'clock and will consist of
"Son-of-a-gun stew, baked slippery elm with bait, mesquite green, sour dough,
corn cake, tonsil varnish and cake."

The Texas Cookbook
by Arthur and Bobbie Coleman
New York: A. A. Wyn
1949

Pg. 45:
And then there is the way that is all Texas' own: the original
Son-of-a-Bitch Stew. It grew up on the far ranches, where cowbrutes are the main  source of
food. But no one should let its apparent sparseness deceive  him. The
Son-of-a-Bitch Stew is well-named--it is just that, in the  admiring sense.

This recipe is straight off Uncle Jim's range, out in the  Pecos Country,
exactly as Aunt Nannie gave it to us. Aunt Nannie ought to  know. She has been
cooking this stew and other good food for cowpokes since  we were yearlings,
more or less. Of course, these quantities have been  citified. Aunt Nannie is
more used to fixing for a couple of dozen hungry hands  than for a family.

Pecos Son-of-a-Bitch Stew
Throw into the pot 1 pound of neck meat cut in small pieces, 1 heart cut up,
the brains, all the marrow-gut, a (Pg. 46--ed.) little of the liver, salt,
pepper, and chiles. Start in cold water. cook slowly until done,
about 6 or 7 hours. When the meat is almost done, add 1 large can of tomato
juice, if desired. Feeds about 8.

For the edification of those who may be dubious about  marrow-gut, it is not
an intestine. It is a milk-secreting tract found only  in calves, and it
imparts to a stew a delicious flavor all its own, without  which the stew is
nothing like so distinctive. Here is another version of  the Son-of-a-Bitch Stew,
which Jack Thornton says out in the country where he  ranched for many
years is called "Gentleman from Odessa" (Odessa, Texas, of  course) -- nobody
we ever met seems to know why -- but for the mollification of  gentlemen from
Odessa, he smiled when he said it. In fact, he laughed out  loud.

15 May 1960, Independent, Scene, pg. 7:
When Wife Martha gets stranded on a mission, Pop decides to cook up his own
specialty for the great occasion: Texas Son-of-a-Bitch Stew.

6 December 1965, New York <i>Times</i>, pg. 35 ad:
>From Sourdough Bread to Son-of-a-Bitch Stew, a Roundup of Authentic Western
Recipes (with palaver): <i>RATTLESNAKE UNDER GLASS</i> by Martha  Eastlake.
$3.95

21 July 1966, New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM), pg. 15:
"A Bowl of Red" by Frank X. Tolbert (Doubleday) is about the tonsil-searing
gourmet food of the Southwest which few people from less sturdy regions have
ever been able to swallow -- chili con carne, tamales, tacos, enchiladas,
jalapeno cornbread and son-of-a-bitch stew. The Tex-Mex food is a state of mind;
you have to be born in the area to understand it.

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