Testicle Eating Festival Galas
Welcome back!
Not for the faint of stomach — if you’re from Elderon, Wisconsin, you’re likely to attend the annual Testicle Festival, where it may be tough to pass up anything deep-fried. Wisconsinites have deep-fried cheese curds, candy bars and Twinkies. They also have deep-fried livestock testicles.
Tom Geiger of Kronenwetter eats a deep-fried bull testicle Saturday during the 9th annual Testicle Festival at Mama’s Place Bar and Grill in Elderon. Photo by Butch McCartney — Wausau Daily Herald.
More than 300 people attended the all-you-can-eat goat, lamb and bull testicles Saturday at Mama’s Place Bar and Grill in Elderon, Wisconsin.
Buster Hoffman, of Kronenwetter first tried goat testicles when he lived in Denver, where it’s considered a delicacy better known as Rocky Mountain oysters. (I’ve heard the term Prairie Oysters, myself.)
He said they were only difficult to swallow the first time. “Once you get over the mental (aspect) of what you’re eating, it’s just like eating any other food, and it tastes good.” Photo by Leodiric.
While some ancient cultures considered testicles an aphrodisiac, that’s not why Hoffman likes them. “No, I don’t believe in any of that superstitious stuff; it’s food, and it’s good.”
One way Butch Joubert likes to eat them is on bread like a sandwich with tartar sauce. He said the testicles aren’t so different from regular meatballs also served at the festival. “After a few beers, you can’t really tell the difference.” Photo by Ganesher.
Festival founder Nancy Fenske of Elderon thinks the lamb fries taste like chicken gizzards, but she loves all the testicles.
The festival grew out of her late husband Roger’s birthday party 12 years ago. They decided to have “a nut fry” at Mama’s Place after bringing back lamb fries from a trip to Montana.
Then more and more people came every year, Fenske said, stating that now they fry up to 100 pounds of testicles for the festival. “What else can you do in a small town? It gets nuts here.”
You find this rather peculiar, you say? A little hard to swallow? Well Elderon Wisconsin isn’t the only player to partake in a ritual of testicular fairs. See for yourself … (Photo by Anomalyzer)
Turkey Testicle Festival at Byron Illinois
Byron, IL celebrates the 28th annual Turkey Testicle Festival with Lois Lane commentating.
Turkey Testicle Festival at Huntley Illinois
People flock to have a ball at the Parkside Pub in Huntley, IL, where they share their secrets to success by demonstrating the cooking process of turkey testicles. Comments on the taste vary, from chewy to juicy and crispy. We’re told that the smaller ones are the most desirable for taste. Shudder! I’m having a difficult time even typing this, folks.
I wonder if Fear Factor has ever thought of this for their show.
I think I’ll to pass on supper today … somehow I’ve lost my appetite.
Tags:bizarre food Nancy Fenske odd offbeat testicle festival testicles unusual weird
[...] one for those with a strong stomach. Deborah at Life in the Fast Lane wrote about testicle eating festival galas and that’s all I’m going to say about it. I [...]
If the Fear Factor decides to go with the testicle eating they probably should contact guys from Huntley, IL- in case they run short on the supply! lol
Haha, good idea Vlad!
hmmmm Deborah
I think our witchetty grubs might be a tad tastier…..GREAT post!!!!!!
Thanks
Witchetty grubs? This is a new one on me. Care to tell us about them?
ummmm…I’ve never actually tasted them Deborah…but they are eaten by the aboriginals over here…and are supposed to be very good for you…or so I have heard…
Kim,
Any time that I hear something is ‘good for you’ makes me uneasy, because it usually means it doesn’t taste very good, or something that might put you off to begin with, like eating chicken gizzards
What exactly are Witchetty grubs?
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Hello, we filming a survival programme in Morocco, in the Sahara with some local Berber people. as part of their cusine they will be eating Goats testicles. i’m trying to find out the nutritional value of them. can any one help me. eg are they rich in protein? and what vitamins do they have
many thanks
Vicki
Oh my, Vicki, I bet you’re going to receive some interesting responses!
I wouldn’t have a clue about nutritional value. I know that it’s a very common food with Arab culture. Maybe try some google searches using the term nutrition along with it.
OK, the University of Missouri has this to say:
Research was published in The Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society, 1965, (Vol. 42, page 540) and in Lipid Metabolism of Animals Journal, 1977 showing that 100 grams of raw hog or cattle testicles contain the following: 3 grams fat, 375 mg cholesterol, 26 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrate and 135 calories. This website also mentioned that the USDA was slated to do further nutritional research on the matter in September of 1993, but I was unable to find any evidence of whether or not this actually happened. Since no real evidence seems to exist on the subject, one might reasonably speculate that testicles contain those same elements which are necessary for reproductive health–vitamins A, D and B6, zinc, amd the fatty acids EPA and DHA.
Hope that helps.
Funny story to add! When I was about 14 our youth department did as a punishment for the team that did not win they had to eat mountain oysters (Bulls Testicles), The only problem was the girls teams lost and the guys start saying a few choice statements about them eating the balls which later got the youth pastor in trouble. It was a BLAST!
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I knew before reading admin’s comment that bull’s testicles offer great nutritional value and in some cultures they’re treated as a delicacy. I would maybe eat some too but only if I’d not known what exactly I am eating.
Here in England these could only be bought at Turkish shops, supermarkets don’t sell them, so I guess I’ll never know what these taste like… Nevertheless looking at the pictures and videos I reckon they taste great, especially to those who don’t see anything wrong with eating this type of food.
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Do these animal suffer? http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp
All I have to say is… RIGHT ON! We should all be trying new foods
Oh my gosh…I just came across the title of this post and couldn’t believe it. This is crazy…do these people even know what they’re doing! Unbelievable.
Man I think I just lost my appetite..it will be hard to eat anything shaped like a small ball now.
Wow, that’s quite original… not something I’d want to try!
I saw Jamie Oliver eat this on one of his programmes. He said it was quite edible surprisingly but the cringe factor is the thing that puts people off.
Also, all depends on how you cook it. ANything deep fried should be edible.
This is like something out of that Bizarre foods programme. The best quote is ” after a few beers, you can’t tell the difference.” LOL.
Am going to share this story and videos on my food blog -http://www.slowfoodkitchen.com