it’s national meatball day
August 25th
Get ready to celebrate! August 25th is National Meatball Day in Sweden!
Grandma’s Swedish Meatballs
Ask anyone what they know about Swedish food and the answer will probably be “Swedish Meatballs” or “Kotttbullar.” Other than herring and glogg, little is quickly recognized about Swedish cuisine. So, the meatball, which is a necessary staple on every holiday buffet table, is certainly worthy of being recognized with its own holiday.
The obvious question becomes - in addition to serving them for lunch and dinner - maybe breakfast with eggs -how should we celebrate the meatball? 5K run while juggling meatballs? Meatball scavenger hunt? Parade for the Meatball Queen and King?
Swedish meatballs are nothing like Italian balls other than being round. Legend says they arrived in Scandinavia thanks to Sweden’s King making a visit to Turkey sometime in the early 18th century. As a result the spices are different, often with allspice replacing oregano. They’re also much smaller in size - more of a nugget than a tennis ball, which means you can eat more. And, they’re typically served with potatoes and creamy gravy instead of pasta and tomato sauce. Of course, Swedish meatballs without lingonberries might be a criminal offense. (Cranberry sauce is an acceptable substitute if your lingonberry bush hasn’t produced.)
Nuggets of Swedish Deliciousness
When I was in Stockholm a couple years ago, Bengt took me to Tranan, www.tranan.se, a historic restaurant famous for their meatballs since 1929 when it opened as a beer cafe. It was lunchtime and we were lucky to get the last red-checkered table crammed inches away from another table. Everyone was eating meatballs!
Meatballs - For The People www.meatball.se is another popular restaurant in Stockholm serving - everything meatballs!
Every Swede has their favorite recipe, typically their grandmother’s. There is no one “official” recipe. I would never serve anything other than my grandmother’s balls and consider all others inferior. And, like my grandmother and my mother, I seriously focus on rolling them into a perfect round. Swedish hands forming Swedish balls. That’s the magic ingredient.
One last question - Can meatballs made of vegetables really be called MEATballs?
If you want to celebrate but no time to prepare - try IKEA’s balls - meat, chicken or vegetable. They’re famous. Along with Lingonberries.
If you want to roll your own, try this recipe from John Duxbury at www.swedishfood.com. It’s not my grandmother’s but it’s a good traditional meatball recipe.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons white breadcrumbs
8 ounces ground pork
8 ounces ground beef or veal
2 tablespoons grated onion
1 egg - lightly beaten
3 or 4 whole allspice, crushed
salt and white pepper
2 tablespoons butter for frying
Gravy:
2 cups warm beef stock
2 tablespoons flour, mixed with a little water
1/2-1 teaspoon soy sauce
freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Place breadcrumbs in large bowl with 4 Tbs water or milk and leave about 5 minutes to absorb.
Add ground meats, onion, egg, allspice and seasoning and mix.
Take tablespoon of meat mixture and roll until nice and round ball is formed
Heat tablespoon of butter in fry pan over medium high heat, and when butter stops sizzling, fry half the meatballs - shake pan frequently. When nicely browned, turn down heat and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.
Add butter to fry pan and fry second batch.
When meatballs are cooked, remove pan from the heat and add stock. Bring to boil, stir, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour liquid thru a sieve into a saucepan. Add flour and water, whisking constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add soy sauce and cream to gravy, heat for additional minutes stirring continuously. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Pour some of sauce over meatballs and serve remaining gravy in separate bowl.
For more delicious recipes, go to www.swedishfamily kitchen.com