Hundreds dig in to deep-fried turkey testicles at bizarre Thanksgiving festival that imports 1,200 POUNDS annually
11
View
comments
Hundreds have sampled an unusual and dare-say ballsy local delicacy this Thanksgiving in Illinois: deep-fried turkey testicles.
Firing up roughly 1,200 pounds of the turkey bits, crowds dined on the so-called 'hot nuts' outside the Parkside Pub in Huntley on Wednesday for their 30th annual Turkey Testicle Festival.
Appeasing annual crowds of roughly 4,000 eager eaters, it was 1,200 pounds and no more, as pub owner Jeff Lovell expressed to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald: 'It's not a food I want anything left over with.'
Scroll down for recipe and video
Poppers: A bowl of deep-fried turkey testicles, cooked to a golden brown, are seen at the 30th annual Turkey Testicle Festival in Huntley, Illinois
Rolling: The testicles are seen about an inch to an inch-and-a-half in size while rolled in a secret bread batter before they're fried
An all-day event held the day before Thanksgiving, it includes beer and live music while raising money for several charities, including area youth groups and the Huntley Jaycees.
Breading the inch to inch-and-a-half long parts in a secret recipe, which couldn't be perhaps anything more shocking than the meat, they're next deep fried for 15 minutes before becoming a kind of finger food.
RELATED ARTICLES
Family devastated after thieves kill their pet turkey Tom... 
Thanksgiving in Afghanistan: 66,000 troops celebrate with...
Share this article
Share'It is similar to cooking chicken,' Mr Lovell told the Northwest Herald. 'The biggest comparison we get is they [taste] like a deep fried mushroom. Anything breaded and deep fried can't be bad.'
He said the breaded morsels taste best with ranch dressing or Tabasco sauce, with it otherwise described as having little taste.
Taste: Seen cooking at Parkside Pub, the tender treat is described as having little taste without recommended hot sauce or Ranch dressing
Eager eaters: One of the roughly 4,000 annual diners is seen taking a bite into a dubbed 'hot nut' after the event stocked 1,200 pounds of the meat
All 'round fun: Festival goers wear turkey hats on their heads as they take part in the event that also featured live music and more common foods like pizza and sausage
‘Oh my God, it tastes like burnt chicken. It's really good,’ 25-year-old first-time sampler Brittany Snyder told the Northwest Herald after taking her first taste.
For those who don't want to partake in turkey testicles, there's pizza, Italian beef and Italian sausage.
But most who come out to the festival admit: they're there for the turkey tenders.
'It's an annual thing for all the people coming back in town for Thanksgiving,' Mr Lovell told the Northwest Herald. 'We get customers on this day that we only see on this day, but we see them every year.'
SIMPLE RECIPE FOR BUTTERFLIED DEEP-FRIED TURKEY TESTICLES
Ingredients:
3lbs of fresh turkey testicles
1lb of flour
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat fryer to 350-degrees
Rinse testicles under cold water and pat dry using a paper towel
Make lengthwise slits in sides, nearly cutting them in half but not all the way through to allow them to split like a butterfly
Cover them in the seasoned flour and fry immediately to golden brown
With a platter and paper towel ready, remove and allow them to drain
Serve with your favorite sauce
Note:
Turkey testicles are found on the inside of the bird, near its liver
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2Fc3%2BWbWlsZ4Sqv6yx2GaLnquknrCtsYx%2FnKysmauurXmnrqWdqpWZwG6wyKBknZ2VpXqnvsiem2aslajBqq%2FLnqpma2CptW6tzaesmqRdibWiusqsnqKumaO0brHVnqWtZXmhuaq6zqKqZ6Ckork%3D