When a juicy ball of fish or minced meat comes out in a plate with delicious steam, you are hardly worried about what it is called - a meatball or meatball. But if you want to find a recipe or order a certain dish in a restaurant, you should still find out what the differences between one and the other are.
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3 differences meatballs from meatballs
I must say that the question of what is the difference between meatballs and meatballs, concerns only Russian-speaking chefs. Why did it happen? The fact is that the recipes of these dishes are not just borrowed, but taken from several sources at once, combined, and then creatively processed.
So the closest "relatives" of meatballs are at the same time both Danish meatballs (Frikadeller) and German meat dumplings of fleischellesen (Fleischklößchen). And if Danish meatballs are served fried, then German, as the name implies, is boiled in water or broth.
Meatballs appeared in Russia thanks to Jewish cuisine. It is believed that they came from a traditional oriental dish called kufta (köfte). Kufta is prepared in South and Central Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans, according to a hundred different national recipes. And they will again have in common that this is a dish of minced meat, rolled into balls. A kufta can be prepared from one or three types of meat, with additives from cereals or from vegetables or without, this dish is fried, stewed, boiled.
So on what grounds do Russian culinary specialists distinguish one from another? There are three fundamental differences:
- meatballs larger than meatballs;
- in addition to minced meat, meatballs must include cereals or vegetables;
- meatballs are always served with sauce.
Swedish Meatballs
In Sweden itself you will find this dish under the name - Köttbullar. This is a traditional home-cooked meal, simple, comfortable food served at the family table.
You will need:
- 250 g of ground beef;
- 250 g minced pork;
- 100 g breadcrumbs;
- 100 ml of milk with a fat content of 3.5%;
- 1 large onion;
- 1 large chicken egg;
- 1 teaspoon mustard;
- 1 teaspoon finely ground salt;
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice;
- a pinch of white pepper;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of butter;
- cooking oil or margarine for frying.
Pour the breadcrumbs with milk and leave for 10-15 minutes. Cut the onion into a small dice. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the onions until transparent. Cool. In a wide bowl, combine ground beef and pork, pepper, mustard and salt. Beat in a chicken egg. Squeeze out excess liquid from crackers, put them in minced meat. Add the fried onions. Start kneading the minced meat, but not too intensively so that it does not become sticky, but remains airy. Blind meatballs with a diameter of about 3 centimeters.
In a wide, deep skillet, heat vegetable oil or melt margarine. Start batching meatballs. First, fry over high heat for 10 minutes, then another about 10 minutes over medium heat. You do not need to cover the meatballs with a lid, otherwise you will not get a light golden crust. Turn the meatballs over with a special wide spatula. Serve meatballs with mashed potatoes or simple medium-sized boiled young potatoes, lingonberry jam and classic Brunsås sauce. Here's a quick step-by-step recipe for this gravy.
For the sauce you will need:
- 400 ml of beef broth;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of wheat flour;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of butter;
- 50 ml cream with a fat content of about 20%;
- 1 teaspoon of soy sauce;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of water.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Pour flour and fry over medium heat, stirring until flour becomes golden. Pour the water into the pan where the meatballs were fried, heat it and drain it into the saucepan. Add the same broth, soy sauce and cream, salt. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, for about 5-7 minutes.
Persian Meatballs
Kufte Tabrizi (Tabriz Köftesi) - one of the most famous Iranian dishes. These oriental meatballs have an incredibly light and moist texture, an interesting taste and an original recipe. It is worth considering in advance that these meatballs are cooked for two days - some of the ingredients are mixed and left to cool for 10-12 hours.
