Festival 2010

OZREM, Serbia (Aug. 31) -- It may not be everybody's idea of a fun meal, but to the 200-some participants at this year's Ball Cup, a dish of animal testicles is about as good as it gets.

Welcome to the seventh annual World Testicle Cooking Championship, held in the isolated Serbian village of Ozrem.

"Man, I'm cooking donkey balls," says Nikola Vesic, gloating.

Vesic is actually a chef, but it never occurred to him to cook testicles until a friend suggested they participate in this year's competition, dubbed Ball Cup, which took place Saturday and Sunday.

"This is so new and exciting," he told AOL News. "They're extremely hard to get, too. I was lucky to have a cousin who is a veterinarian. He does a lot of castrations and kept some balls in his freezer."

When it comes to balls, the tournament's organizer, Ljubomir Erovic, has seen it all. His favorite is stallion, but probably the most freakish entry was shark testicles.

"Yes, they do have balls," he says. "I know because I ate them."

Though you could call the event a food festival, Erovic says his main goal is to keep it fun and enjoyable. He's taken to calling it "Mudstock," a play on the classic Woodstock music festival that happens to feature the Serbian word for balls.

Erovic is hardly afraid of carrying the joke too far. In addition to organizing the Ball Cup, he published a cookbook -- "Cooking with Balls" -- and heads the rock outfit the Cooking with Balls Band.

A line from his band's anthem says it all, he explains over a bowl of bull goulash: "We have the balls to change the world. Balls mean courage and wisdom, and the world could use some more of both."

The tournament draws a diverse crowd. The mainstay is middle-aged men, but there is also a children's team, a handful of hip youngsters from the capital city of Belgrade and the occasional foreigner. The attitude toward the food is roughly divided by age group: youngsters find it hilarious, while many elderly participants defiantly stare down any suggestion of weirdness.

"It's simply great meat," says Milan Sushic from Belgrade, while stirring a testicle ragout on a woodfire. "I don't eat it every day, but that's why it's called a delicacy."

For sure, in many parts of the world, from the Great Plains to Asia, animal testicles are considered regional specialties.

But for many, uneasiness with eating testicles is part of the fun.

"This is a great opportunity to grill some bull balls," says Slaven Spremo.

He is touring the countryside with his friends and having his first testicle was too good an opportunity to pass up. Spremo is most of all curious about the dish's purported effects as an aphrodisiac.

"But we'll probably have to wait until the night for it to kick in," he says, while carefully grilling the marinated bull testicles on charcoal, adding a slice of tomato here and there.

For Anna Wexler, a fire performer and writer from Israel, it was her second Ball Cup in a row.

"I just like eating weird stuff," she says. "When I read about this on the Internet last year I had to go. I had a feeling it would be completely insane, and that was proved right."

Along with insanity and the free-flowing hard liquor, the festival yields some very creative cooking. From Spremo's grilled testicles to subtle curries to bar food complete with chips and mustard, the teams obviously take the competition seriously.

Your correspondent, invited to sit on the jury, can attest that many dishes were excellent.

Even though a performance by the Cooking with Balls Band was canceled because of electrical problems, organizer Erovic is a happy man.

"We're spreading the word, and that's great. I don't think we'll hit the 10,000 participants soon, but at least we we can attract some quality people to this festival."

Indeed, people with balls.

President Gets Top Prize At Manly Food Fest

Monday, August 30, 2010

Testicle chefs name President Obama "ballsy" & bravest man in world...as President challenges Republicans to collectively grow a pair

Over the weekend, the organizers of Serbia's seventh annual World Testicle Cooking Championship awarded President Obama their top prize as "ballsy" newsmaker--in part for the way he's handled the economic crisis, reports Eater. When the President spoke today at a Rose Garden press conference on the economy, he lived up to his new prize, and challenged Senate Republicans to move past fear and match his own "ballsyness."

"Obama took over the world at the most difficult economic and political times," said Ljubomir Erovic, the Serbian chef who organizes the testicle festival, and selects its prize winners. "He showed he has balls. He's the bravest man in the world."

During his rose Garden remarks, President Obama urged Senate Republicans to stop blocking his jobs bill, which cuts taxes and makes available more loans for small businesses. The GOP should stop the obstructionism even if they're afraid of the upcoming mid-term elections, the President said.

"I know we’re entering election season, but the people who sent us here expect us to work together to get things done and improve this economy," President Obama said. "Simply put, holding this bill hostage is directly detrimental to our economic growth."

"This bill has been languishing in the Senate for months, held up by a partisan minority that won’t even allow it to go to a vote," President Obama added. "I ask Senate Republicans to drop the blockade.

President Obama was not available to accept his unusual award this weekend, but his campaign for the jobs bill has been something of its own food festival, with a focus on restaurateurs as small business entrepreneurs, who create many jobs in the American economy. The President visited Seattle's Grand Central Bakery on August 17, and New Jersey's Tastee Sub Shop on July 28. At a Rose Garden press conference about the legislation on June 11, the President was accompanied by franchise owners for Buffalo Wild Wings.

Chef Erovic has published a testicle cookbook, and is regarded as an expert in the cuisine, which is called "white kidneys" in Serbian, and believed to be rich in testosterone. The other ballsy newsmaker prize went to American pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who last year landed a passenger jet in the Hudson river in New York, saving everyone on board. On offer at the fest was plenty of offal, including testicle moussaka, goulash, and stallion, boar, bull, kangaroo and camel testicle dishes. (Above: Gourmands at the fest enjoy themselves)

*Top photo via Reuters; second photo via Eater. Thanks to Raphael Brion of Eater for sending in the testicle tip.

The food, politely called “white kidneys” in Serbian, is believed to be rich in testosterone. In the Balkans, it is considered to help men’s libido.

Vreme do Šampionata 2013

Festival 2010

FESTIVAL 2010

What a Ball! Serbia's Testicle Eating Festival Draws Daring Diners

President Gets Top Prize At Manly Food Fest

Monday, August 30, 2010

Chefs compete at World Testicle Cooking Championship

Teams of chefs cooked up bull, boar, camel and kangaroo in a remote Serbian mountain village a the seventh annual World Testicle Cooking Championship.