Dondero: Meatballs: Recipes from home and abroad

he deceptively humble meatball can, occasionally, reach culinary heights. Called "Lion's Head" in China; "Frikkadels" in South Africa; "Alb ndigas" in Spain and Latin America; "K ttbullar" in Sweden; and "Kofta," "K fte," "Kefta," with many linguistic variants extending as far west as Morocco to as far east as India, meatballs are virtually universal.

Meatball-like concoctions reach back to prehistory. Only a knife to chop the meat or a primitive mortar and pestle to pound it in was needed. In addition to being seasoned throughout, the chopped or pounded meat cooked quickly, a benefit when cooking equipment was rudimentary.

The ancient Roman cookbook De Re Coquinaria, attributed to Apicius, devoted its entire book 2, "Sarcoptes," to minced meat and seafood recipes. Many of those specialties would qualify as meatballs.

Meatball fundamentals

What Americans call chopped or ground meat, the British call "mince" or "minced meat." ("Mincemeat" for Christmas pies originally contained chopped venison or beef.)

Commercially, meat is ground in large machines, giving the consumer little choice on the fineness or the freshness of the product. At home, selected meat can be freshly chopped with a chef's knife or cleaver on a cutting board or, less tediously, in a food processor.

The historical mortar and pestle is largely obsolete for pounding meat.

Combining chopped or pounded meat, seasonings, a binder like egg or starch, and a stretcher like bread crumbs, grains or vegetable is fairly simple. Formed into rounds, ovals, sausage shapes or flattened cakes, meatballs are quickly fried, boiled, steamed or roasted.

Some meatballs, especially in the Middle East and Central Asia, are stuffed with contrasting ingredients like cheese, vegetables or fruit. Meatballs can be served alone, with a condiment poured over them or with a sauce in which they were simmered.

Meatball-like dishes also can be meatless. The first minced meat recipe in the ancient Roman Apicius cookbook was for a squid "meatball." In modern days, Chinese fish balls, Indian "Malai Kofta," Middle Eastern "Falafel" and Jewish "Gefilte Fish" contain no meat.

Related terms

Forcemeat is the general term for seasoned, finely chopped or pounded meat - or nonmeat. The mixture can be shaped into meatballs or used to stuff roasts, crusts, sausage casings or other structured edibles in which they will be cooked.

Burgers, shortened from "Hamburgers" - named for the German city - are made with ground meat with few, if any, additives. Formed into flattish cakes, they are fried or grilled.

Frikadels - or frikkadels - are balls or, more accurately, cakes of seasoned, chopped meat that are somewhat flattened and fried. The term is particularly associated with Danish, German and South African cooking.

Croquettes are small fried rolls typically containing minced meat, seafood or vegetables with mashed potato or cream sauce. They often are coated in bread crumbs before frying.

Rissoles in traditional French cooking are small croquettes enclosed in pastry or rolled in bread crumbs, then baked or fried. However, "rissole" in British-influenced areas can mean essentially the same as "meatball."

Quenelles, a feature of French haute cuisine, are soft creamy mixtures of finely minced seafood, meat or vegetable bound together with egg. They are formed into oval shapes and gently poached in simmering water.

The Recipes

From the enormous variety of meatballs and meatless "meatballs" around the world, I've chosen four tasty ones to illustrate different styles.

Thai pork or chicken meatballs are initially boiled or steamed. Skewered onto split bamboo, they are toasted over a charcoal grill.

The "kofta" lineage of meatballs began in Persia ("kuftan" there meant to grind or beat), but now extends widely. I've selected Greek "keftedes" to represent this culinary family.

"Frikkadels," also called "Rissoles," are meatballs in South Africa. The curried version I've selected is a fusion of several of the food traditions that form South African cuisine, including Dutch-Afrikaner, Indian, Cape Malay and English.

The nonmeat "meatballs" in this collection are black bean-lentil cakes, an American creation. They contain no meat, egg or wheat.

The recipes serve four to six people.

Thai Grilled Meatballs with Sweet-Sour Dipping Sauce

Meatballs:

4 teaspoons cilantro stems (not leaves), very finely minced

3/8 inch fresh ginger, sliced thinly then finely minced

1 medium clove garlic, very finely minced

1 pound ground pork or chicken

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt plus more for boiling

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Large pinch cayenne

Oil for grilling

Bamboo skewers

Mince cilantro stems, ginger and garlic together on cutting board with chef's knife until very fine, or pound them with a mortar and pestle.

Knead together all ingredients except oil. In large pot, bring 3 quarts water to a boil. Reduce temperature to low. Add 1 teaspoon salt.

Wetting your hands each time, shape mixture into 1-inch balls. As you make them, drop them into simmering water.

Simmer