20 years of the Testicle Festival
Testicles star in quirky festival
Twenty years ago Stuart Allan, owner of Buzzards, was looking for a way to celebrate the ranching heritage of Alberta and to drum up more business for his south-of-the-tracks restaurant and pub. He sampled his way through Buzzards’ extensive beer list searching for inspiration and finally it struck him. It was time to create the Testicle Festival, showcasing the many ways that prairie oysters can be prepared.
“Frankly, the first year was met with considerable suspicion and it took some time before the city began to embrace the idea,” says Allan. “Even my wife was skeptical, but she eventually had a ball.”
Since that fated day, Buzzards has been home to an annual festival that has attracted visitors from around the world, if only to say they’d been there and bought the T-shirt. Dozens of recipes have been created and young male calves cringe in fear of the yearly event.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the festival — an event that will run full-speed ahead because the restaurant was spared damage in last week’s flood — Buzzards is whipping up the three most popular recipes this year. There’s Mixed Nuts, sauteed with gently crushed walnuts in a rum-butter sauce; Great Balls of Fire in a hot and spicy sauce with some bison thrown in; and Battered Balls, which Allan says will bring a lump to your throat and a tear to your eye. Each dish, served in delicate appetizer size, runs $9.95, while they last.
Allan is spending a bit more time at Buzzards these days. After retiring to Peachland a couple years ago, he’s decided to unretire and help son Geoff (general manager) and daughter Jennifer (operations manager) run Buzzards.
The Allan team has recently completed a renova- tion on both the restaurant side and the pub side (Bottlescrew Bill’s) of the business. They’ve gone for a contemporary pub look decked out in dark wood, glass and a neutral decor. The patio — the oldest in the city — has been revamped too, including an all-new heating system to transform it into a nearly year-round operation.
As for beer selection, Buzzards still leads the pack with more than 300 varieties available. Just what you need to wash down the prairie oysters.
Now that we know the Stampede will still take place despite the flood, I can smell the deep fryers warming up already. We don’t know yet what the Stampede will look like because much of Stampede Park was damaged, but plans were afoot earlier this year to offers us more than 30 new “foods” on the midway.
Just when you thought it might not be possible to deep fry anything else, we’ll see a bacon-wrapped wiener dipped in a bacon-bit infused batter and deep- fried to create a double-bacon corn dog. There’s deep-fried avocado, deepfried bubble gum (that’s actually marshmallows infused with bubble gum flavour, dipped in pink pastry batter and deep-fried) and even deep-fried butter. (Have we jumped the shark here?)
On the international side of things, new this year are eggrolls-on-a-stick, shrimp chips and chicken flautas. And new in chocolate are chocolate-covered bacon (you knew it had to happen someday) and chocolatedipped jalapenos for a twist on hot chocolate.
For straight-up, stop-the-insanity cuisine, we have a Japanese-inspired Godzilla mac’n’cheese topped with nori, teriyaki sauce and Japanese mayo and shooters of pure pickle juice. I’m hoping that Tums has a booth nearby.
In addition to all these “foods” the Stampede is hosting 18 local food trucks July 11 to 13 in what they call the Calgary Stampede Food Truck Rally. Last year, three trucks were granted space on the Midway and received a strong welcome. We can expect an even stronger food truck presence this year.
If the above list lacks appeal, there are some other options at Stampede Park. Despite flooding in the Saddledome, officials are still optimistic the venue will be open in time for the big Stampede concerts. What we don’t know is how the ’Dome’s restaurants fared.
Plans were to have the Avison Young Club Buffet open for Stampede for an $18 lunch and $23 dinner (kids 11 and under are $13). It’s good food too, with roast beef carved on the spot.
Also in the dome is Dutton’s Canadian Lounge with an a la care menu that includes a grilled tuna salad, barbecued ancho chili beef ribs and a daily grilled cheese sandwich. Either eatery makes a great getaway from the festivities outside.
Will we get to sample any of these fine foods? Fingers crossed.