have been the subject of an eccentric and enthralling book by Spoerri (1982), but neither he, nor any other author, has succeeded or could succeed in treating the subject comprehensively. There are too many manifestations, around the world, of this item, which is essentially just minced meat (of any edible animal) formed into a ball and cooked in any of various ways. For some of the best versions, in S. Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, and N. Africa, see kofta.
Some of the general names in other languages for meatball are: albóndiga (Spanish); keftédes (Greek); kötbulle (Swedish); Klopse (German); frikadeller (Danish). There is great diversity among these, for the other ingredients and flavourings vary considerably. In Greece, for example, meatballs may include flat-leaved parsley, Greek oregano, thyme, mustard seeds, wine, breadcrumbs, olive oil, and salt and pepper. The result is unmistakably Greek and could not conceivably be confused with a meatball from one of the Nordic countries. Traditional sauces or accompaniments also serve as lines of demarcation. Dill sauce or sour cream and spring onion sauce would label meatballs Russian, as Lesley Chamberlain (1983) indicates in an interesting passage about the oval kotlety and round bitki of that country. (She also implies what are patently insoluble riddles about the points at which meatballs become meat patties or hamburgers or rissoles as their shape diverges from the purely spherical. Such questions abound. May one call a torpedo-shaped kibbeh a meatball?)
Meatballs may be small, designed to go into soups or to be part of a dressing for pasta, or large enough to be the main element of a savoury dish. In the latter case they would often be a humble, inexpensive dish, ordering which in a restaurant would not have impressed American waiters of the mid-20th century, if one may be guided by the song about the man who ordered a single meatball and hankered for some bread to go with it, but was embarrassed to hear the waiter's voice come echoing down the hall: ‘We don't serve bread with one meat ball.’
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Chamberlain, Lesley (1983), The Food and Cooking of Russia, London: Penguin.
Spoerri, Daniel (1982), Mythology and Meatballs, Berkeley, Calif.: Aris.
