It takes balls to be the World Testicle Cooking Champion

Back when this city was so concerned with being lean and green, I wondered what that health-conscious program would do to the proper preparation of Rocky Mountain oysters, Colorado's unofficial state food (as seen on the Let's Talk Colorado tourism page, which I took to task for its general incoherence in...

By Patricia Calhoun

December 10, 2008

Audio By Carbonatix

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Back when this city was so concerned with being lean and green, I wondered what that health-conscious program would do to the proper preparation of Rocky Mountain oysters, Colorado's unofficial state food (as seen on the Let's Talk Colorado tourism page, which I took to task for its general incoherence in "Balls!"). After all, breading and deep-frying sliced bull's testicles is about the only way to make these items seem palatable to the general public; nobody wants to see gently braised gonads.

Except, perhaps, Ljubomir R. Erovic, the Serbian chef who's the author of The Testicle Cookbook: Cooking With Balls, and also the organizer of the World Testicle Cooking Championship, held annually in Serbia since 2004.

That's him above, talking about the potent power of testicles. His ballsy work has been covered around the globe, including in this TV report:

Not only does his e-book offer many ways to prepare testicles -- as a goulash, on a pizza, in a pot-pie -- but it also greatly expands the kinds of animals whose genitals can be tossed into the culinary stock pot. Ostriches, for example, as well as sheep (delicious), stallions, turkeys and pigs (which are okay, but Erovic is not a fan of boars). "All testicles can be eaten," Erovic says. "Except human, of course."

Thanks, chef. But we think we'll stick to the very battered and fried bull and buffalo versions offered at Bruce's Bar, a revived Colorado landmark. -- Patricia Calhoun

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

Contact: Patricia Calhoun

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