Meatball

History

By region

Europe

• Albanian fried meatballs include feta cheese.
• Armenian stewed meatballs/meatball and vegetable stew is a classic dish often poured over rice for consumption.
• In Austria, fried meatballs are called Fleischlaibchen or Fleischlaberl.
• In Belgium, meatballs are called ballekes or buletten in Flanders and are usually made of a mixture of beef and pork with bread crumbs and sliced onions. Many other variations exist, including different kinds of meat and chopped vegetables. They are often served in tomato sauce or with sour cherry sauce.
• In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, meatballs are called ćufte and are typically made from ground beef or ground lamb, usually served with cooked potatoes and salad on the side.
• In Bulgaria, meatballs are called kyufte and are typically made from ground beef or pork, or a mix of the two. They can be shallow fried or grilled and often contain diced onions and soaked bread. They are a very popular dish. The term can be used for anything from Turkish köfta to Swedish meatballs and has also been used for burger patties.
• In Croatia, meatballs are called polpete in the Dalmatian region or faširani šnicli or ćufte in the continental part. They are typically made with ground beef or a mixture of pork and beef and served with mashed potatoes or rice, often with tomato based sauce.
• Danish meatballs are known as frikadeller and are typically fried. They are usually made out of ground pork, veal, onions, eggs, salt, and pepper; these are formed into balls and flattened somewhat, so they are pan ready. However, the Danish cuisine also includes other versions, such as boller i karry, and the smaller meatballs used in soup with melboller.
• In Estonia, meatballs are called lihapallid and are similar to those of Finnish or Swedish cuisine.
• In Finland, meatballs are called lihapullat. They are made with ground beef or a mix of ground beef and pork, or even with ground reindeer or elk meat, mixed with breadcrumbs soaked in milk or viili, beef stock and finely chopped onions or alternatively, French onion soup readymix. They are seasoned with white pepper and salt. Meatballs are traditionally served with gravy or brown sauce, boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam, and sometimes pickled cucumber or pickled beetroot.
• In France, meatballs are known as boulettes de viande or fricadelles. They can be made of beef, veal, pork or fish. In Alsace, meatballs are known as Fleischkiechele. They are made of beef, pork, onions, bacon, eggs, and bread. They are served plain or with cream sauce. In the region of Roussillon, they are known as boles de picolat'. In Languedoc, they are served with tomato sauce or in a dish called ragoût d'escoubilles. The term quenelle can also refer to meatballs.
• In Germany, meatballs are mostly known as Frikadelle, Fleischküchle, Fleischpflanzerl, Bulette or Klopse. A notable variant of meatballs are Königsberger Klopse, which contain anchovy or salted herring, and are eaten with caper sauce.
• In Greece, fried meatballs are called keftédes and usually include within the mix of bread, onions, parsley and mint leaf. Stewed meatballs are called yuvarlákia and usually include small quantities of rice.
• In Hungary, as well as territories from neighbouring countries where Hungarian is spoken, a meatball is called vagdalt or fasírt or fasírozott probably coming from Austrian German faschierte Laibchen. It is a mixture of minced pork, minced onions, garlic, paprika, salt and breadcrumbs, deep fried in oil or pork fat and eaten with potatoes or főzelék. Also, the májgombóc is popular in soups.
• In Italy, meatballs are generally eaten either as a main course or in soup. The main ingredients of an Italian meatball are beef and/or pork and sometimes poultry or sausage, salt, black pepper, chopped garlic, olive oil, Romano cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, and parsley, mixed and rolled by hand to a golf ball size. In the Abruzzo region of Italy, especially in the Province of Teramo, the meatballs are typically the size of marbles and are called polpettine.
• In the Netherlands, meatballs are called gehaktbal, and are often served with boiled potatoes and vegetables. They are usually made out of mixed beef and pork minced meat, eggs, onion and bread crumbs.
• In Norway, meatballs are called kjøttkaker. They are typically served with gravy, kålstuing, tyttebærsyltetøy and boiled potatoes. Kjøttkaker are similar to kjøttboller, except in form. Kjøttboller are round, like the typical meatball, whereas kjøttkaker or meat cakes are in a patty form, flattened out, larger than kjøttboller and often somewhat oval in shape.
• In Poland, they are called ' or klopsy, and pulpeciki, and are usually served cooked with a variety of sauces with potatoes, rice or all sorts of kasza. Pulpety or klopsy are usually made from seasoned ground meat with onion and mixed with eggs and either breadcrumbs or wheat rolls soaked in milk or water. Fried pulpety are larger than typical cooked ones. They can be round or flat in shape. The latter, in many countries, would be considered a cross between a meatball and a hamburger. The fried variety is called mielony, and its mass-produced version is the subject of many jokes and urban legends about what is used to produce it.
• In Portugal, meatballs are called almôndegas. These are usually served with a spicy tomato sauce and rice or sometimes pasta.
• In Romania and Moldova, there are two types of meatballs called chiftele and pârjoale, and are usually deep fried and made with pork or poultry, moistened mashed potatoes and spices. Chiftele are flat and round and contain more meat. A variant mixing rice inside the meatball is used for sour soup, making ciorbă de perişoare.
• In Russia, they are called kotlety in flat forms or tefteli in ball forms. They can be made with chicken, pork, beef or fish. Tefteli have rice, potatoes and other vegetables mixed in as well. Kotlety are only made with meat and spices. They can be served with a side of mashed potatoes or noodles, or in a sauce. When boiled in soup round meatballs are called frikadelki.
• In Slovenia, they are called polpeti. They are typically made with ground beef or a mixture of pork and beef and served with mashed potatoes, with tomato-based sauce.
• In Spain and Hispanic America, meatballs are called albóndigas, derived from the Arabic al-bunduq. Albóndigas are thought to have originated as a Berber or Arab dish introduced to Spain during the period of Muslim rule. Spanish albóndigas can be served as an appetizer or main course, often in a tomato sauce. Mexican albóndigas are commonly served in a soup with a light broth and vegetables.
• In Sweden, meatballs are called köttbullar and are considered a national dish. They became popular in the mid-1800s with the advent of meat grinders. Swedish meatballs are usually made with a mix of ground beef and ground pork, or just with ground beef, which is mixed into a mixture of beaten eggs, breadcrumbs soaked in milk, and grated raw onions or finely chopped and fried onions. Cream is often added for more luxurious versions. The meatball mixture is seasoned with salt and white pepper or a mixture of white pepper and allspice. Swedish meatballs are traditionally served with gravy, boiled or mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam, and sometimes pickled cucumber. Traditionally, they are small, around in diameter, though larger meatballs are often served at restaurants. The term köttbulle first appeared in 1755 in Cajsa Warg's cookbook, previously since the mid-1600s, they were more commonly called frikadeller. IKEA, the world's largest furniture retailer, introduced Swedish meatballs to its cafeterias in 1985, and today serves over one billion meatballs annually worldwide. In 2018, a user on Sweden's official Twitter account claimed that Swedish meatballs originated in a Turkish recipe brought to Sweden by King Charles XII in 1714 after his exile in the Ottoman Empire. The claim garnered international attention but was later refuted. Leading food historian Richard Tellström stated there was no evidence behind the claim. The Twitter account retracted the statement shortly after.
• In Turkey, meatballs are called köfte and are extremely popular; there are many different versions with a variety of shapes – not necessarily round. Meatballs in Turkey are usually made with ground lamb or a mix of ground beef and lamb. Variants are mostly named after their traditional cities; such as İnegöl köfte, İzmir köfte, Akçaabat köfte and Tire köfte. Some of the other popular ones are şiş köfte, and sulu köfte. There is also a variant called Çiğ köfte that can be vegan. There is also vegan köfte made from bulgur and lentils called Mercimek köftesi.
• In Ukraine, they are called kotleta when fried and frykadelka when boiled in soup.
• In the United Kingdom, faggots are a type of spicy pork meatball. A faggot is traditionally made from pig's heart, liver and a fatty cut of pork minced together, with herbs added for flavoring, and sometimes bread crumbs.