The Meat In Meatballs

Im trying to find a good protein-balance in a meatball. I can’t right.

Should I do all-Beef? A Pork/Beef/Veal mix? If so, what ratio? Breadcrumbs and beaten egg? Ive tried like 5 diff varieties and Im not sold.

I’m pretty sure that there’s a detailed discussion of this somewhere. Maybe it was back on eBoob, but if you search for “meatballs” you’ll find it if it was here.

I use equal parts of beef, pork and veal, bread crumbs (fresh), sauteed onion and garlic, beaten egg, salt, pepper and parsley. Some people use parmesan if they’re making “Italian” meatballs. I don’t.

Somewhat like Bob’s, except for the meat ratio. I use either all beef or 2/3 beef & 1/3 pork (don’t have a ready supply of veal here in Yakima). I also make a panade with the fresh bread crumbs & milk. The onions must be sauteed; I never use raw onion in meatballs or meat loaf. Sometimes fresh basil.

Since I am grinding my own my perfect mix recently has been 75/25 brisket/short ribs or 50/50 sirloin/hangar. I always did the 33/33/33 chuck/pork/veal but see no need any longer. My meatballs stay super moist and fall apart good. Sometimes I add diced pancetta.

Wow, seems a bit labor intensive. Is this left-over brisket or you made the it just for the meatballs?

I definitely would want to try one, no doubt.

I usually do all beef, 90/10, beaten egg and breadcrumbs. Tastes good, but it always seems like something is missing (and its not cheeese).

I think mr Batali says you need a. 40% ratio of bread crumbs to protein…I never measure …its just what I feel…I like a good chuck of garlic and fresh parsly

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To finish my meatball recipe, I use about 1 handful of Panko per pound meat and 1 egg per pound. I place about 3/4 cup of ‘oldish’ (yesterdays) white middles from my french bread in milk and soak, then squeeze milk out, then place it in the food processor and add to the meat. Dried parsley, chiffonade some basil, salt, pepper, and some Parmigiano-Reggiano (imported buffala, wonderful and creamy textured) and Locatelli (slightly salty) shavings, about 1/2 cup mixed per pound. About 1 tablesppon dried garlic. I fry in a 50/50 olive oil/vegetable oil until nicely browned and place them in my sauce. I used to use fresh garlic in the oil instead of the dried in the mix, but I like this way better.

I think we need to send you to a remedial class in Italian cheese identification.

how so? Are you questioning the buffala part? Do you know what cheeses I have access to in my neck of the woods, Wood? Thought not.

Yes. I believe you’re thinking of mozzarella. Reggiano is made from raw cow’s milk to my knowledge.

Nope, you are wrong. I know mozzerella, and I know what I purchase. This is a special PR made from the buffala. It’s you who has not the clue here.

No, I don’t know what cheeses you have access to but I stand by my comment above. Reggiano is made from cow’s milk. Period.

And, in case you missed the snorting emoticon, I was having fun with you but your ingrown hard-on for me doesn’t allow you to notice that, does it? Instead, you’d rather play the shithead. What . . . did I offend your tender Italian sensiblities?

PS - I’ll gladly be wrong but i can’t find anything anywhere about Reggiano made from bufala milk.

You can get Parm from bufala

http://www.amazon.com/Delitia-Bufala-Buffalo-Parmigiano-approx/dp/B004G5NU9I

My apologies, then.

Apology retracted. That stuff is grana, not Reggiano. Quoting the Amazon posting: From the heart of Pianura Padana
made in the style and methods of Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano

I saw an episode of tyler florence…the ultimate meat balls…in italy…this person made meatballs with a kl. Of meat protein and 8 eggs…tyler ask…why so many eggs…he said to make tender…I have. Never tried with that many eggs

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Perhaps, though your link is to grana, but what you can’t get is Parmigiano Reggiano. Using bufala milk in true PR is akin to making Cote de Beaune with pinotage. It’s simply not allowed.

Meatballs Across Various Cultures

* In Afghanistan, meatballs are used as a traditional dish with homemade soups, or are made with a tomato based sauce that may include some plum seeds to increase tartness and is served with white rice which is called Kufta-Chalou. Now meatballs are also grilled on top of pizza.
* Albanian fried meatballs (qofte të fërguara) include feta cheese.
* In Austria, fried meatballs are called Fleischlaibchen or Fleischlaberl.
* In Belgium, meatballs are called ballekes or bouletten in Flanders, and are usually made of a mixture of beef and pork with breadcrumbs and sliced onions. Many other variations exist, including different kinds of meat and chopped vegetables.
* Chinese meatballs (specifically, a dish common in Shanghai cuisine) are most often made of pork and are usually steamed or boiled, either as-is, or with the addition of soy sauce. Large meatballs, called lion’s heads, can range in size from about 5 cm to 10 cm in diameter. Smaller varieties, called pork balls, are used in soups. A Cantonese variant, the steamed meatball, is made of beef and served as a dim sum dish. A similar dish is called the beef ball, and the fish ball is yet another variety made from pulverized fish. In northern China, irregular balls made from minced meat and flour are often deep-fried and eaten for special occasions.
* Danish meatballs are known as frikadeller and are typically fried, and 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.
* In Finnish cuisine, meatballs (lihapullat) are made with ground beef or a mix of ground beef and pork, or even with ground reindeer meat, mixed with breadcrumbs soaked in milk and finely chopped onions. They are seasoned with white pepper and salt. Meatballs are traditionally served with gravy, boiled potatoes (or mashed potatoes), lingonberry jam, and sometimes pickled cucumber.
* In Germany, meatballs are mostly known as Frikadelle, Fleischpflanzerl, Bulette or Klopse. A very famous 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 (κεφτέδες) and usually include within the mix bread, onions and mint leaf. Stewed meatballs are called yuvarlákia (γιουβαρλάκια: from the Turkish word yuvarlak, which means “round”) and usually include small quantities of rice.
* In Hungary, as well as territories from neighbouring countries where Hungarian is spoken, a meatball is called fasirt or fasirozott ([ˈfɒʃirt] or [ˈfɒʃirozotː]) probably coming from Austrian German faschierte Laibchen. Also the májgombóc (liver dumpling) is popular in soups.
* In Iran, several types of meatballs are consumed. If they are cooked in a stew, they are called kufteh (Persian for minced). If they are fried (typically small meatballs), they are called kal-e gonjeshki (literally “sparrow’s head”). Both types are consumed with either bread or rice. Typically, herbs are added, and for kufteh, usually the meatball is filled with hard boiled eggs or dried fruits. There are several (at least 10) types; the most famous is “kufteh tabrizi”, traditionally from Tabriz in northwestern Iran.
* In Indonesia, meatballs are called bakso which are usually served in a bowl, like soup, with noodles, beancurd (tofu), egg, siomay/steamed meat dumpling, and crispy wonton. They have a consistent homogeneous texture. Bakso can be found all across Indonesia, but the most popular are bakso Solo and bakso Malang (named for the city from which it originates). In Malang, bakso bakar (roasted bakso) is also popular. As most Indonesians are Muslim, generally it is made from beef or is mixed with chicken.
* In Italy, meatballs are known as polpette, and are generally eaten as a main course or in a soup. The main ingredients of an Italian meatball are: beef and or pork and sometimes turkey, 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.
* The Japanese hamburger steak, hanbāgu, is typically made of ground beef, milk-soaked panko (bread crumbs) and minced, sauteed onions. They are typically eaten with a sauce made from ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Chinese style meatballs are also popular.
* In the Netherlands, meatballs are called gehaktbal, and are often served with boiled potatoes and vegetables. This combination has been the most common dish in Dutch households for many years.
* In Norway, meatballs are called kjøttkaker (“meat cakes”) and resemble Danish frikadeller, but they are usually made from ground beef. This dish is traditionally served with boiled potatoes, gravy, lingonberry jam and/or stewed green peas. Some people also like to add fried/caramelized onion on the side.
* In the Philippines, meatballs are called almondigas or bola-bola, and usually served in a soup with rice vermicelli called misua, toasted garlic, squash and pork cracklings.
* In Poland, they are called pulpety or klopsy (singular pulpet; klops), and pulpeciki (“little pulpety”), and are usually served cooked with a variety of sauces (such as tomato or a kind of gravy thickened with flour, as well as forest mushroom sauce) 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 (short for kotlet mielony - literally “minced cutlet”), and its mass-produced version (as well as the one served in bars, etc.) is a subject of many jokes and urban legends explaining what is used to produce it.
* In Portugal and Brazil, meatballs are called almôndegas. These are usually served with tomato sauce and pasta.
The chiftele and pârjoale from Romania are usually deep fried and made with pork or poultry, moistened bread and garlic. Chiftele are smaller and contain more meat. A crude, plain meat variant is used for sour soup, making ciorbă de perişoare.
* In Spain and Latin America, meatballs are called albóndigas, derived from the Arabic al-bunduq (meaning hazelnut, or, by extension, a small round object). Albóndigas are thought to have originated as a Berber or Arab dish imported to Spain during the period of Muslim rule. Spanish albóndigas can be served as an appetizer or main course, often in a tomato sauce, while Mexican albóndigas are commonly served in a soup with a light broth and vegetables.
* In Sweden, köttbullar (meatballs) are made with ground beef or a mix of ground beef, pork and sometimes veal, mixed with breadcrumbs soaked in milk and finely chopped (fried) onions, some broth, and, occasionally, cream. They are seasoned with white pepper or allspice and salt. Swedish meatballs are traditionally served with gravy, boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam, and sometimes fresh pickled cucumber. Traditionally, they are small, measuring one inch in diameter. In the United States, there are a number of variations, based on the assimilation of Swedes in the Midwest.
* In the United Kingdom, faggots are a type of spicy pork meatball. A faggot is traditionally made from pig heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring, and sometimes breadcrumbs.
* In the United States, meatballs are commonly served with spaghetti as in spaghetti and meatballs, a dish in Italian American cuisine, assimilated from Italian immigrants coming from southern Italy in the early 19th century. Over time, the dishes in both cultures have drifted apart in similarity. In the southern United States, venison or beef is also often mixed with spices and baked into large meatballs that can be served as an entree. Another variation, called “porcupine meatballs” are basic meatballs often with rice in them.
* In Vietnam, meatballs (thịt viên) can be used as an ingredient in phở. It is also common to cook meatballs in tomato sauce, and finely chopped spring onion and peppers are added before serving. In bún chả (a specialty Vietnamese rice noodle), meatballs are grilled to be chả and served with bún (rice noodles) and dipping sauce (based on fish sauce seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, garlic, and chili).
* in Friesland, meatballs (gehaktbâlluh) are eaten by Birgit Gigengack, who was the goddess of all the meatballs in the world, in ancient Rome. Friesland does not exist.

TY: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank you for all of your input. I think I will use all-beef (prob 90/10) with a big handful of breadcrumbs, 1 beaten egg per pound, some parma, and I’ll just have to experiment with garlic, onion and seasonings.

BTW, here in the city these guys in the Lower East Side tried to do a meatball shop and start a new fad, kinda like the wave of the chic-burger, but it never picked up steam. This is simply because everyone has their own “perfect” version of a meatball (unlike a burger that is pretty straight forward, with a few tweeks here-and-there).

We can all agree, as compared to burgers, we can make our own best meatballs.

Wow…Francis…interesting
I think the time I saw an episode in italy it was in a beef gravy…
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Have a friend who recently visited his in-laws in Sweden and Norway. He raved about the meatballs at one of the dinners he attended and asked the relative to give him the recipe. The relative said she would e-mail it to him when he got back to the US.

Meat: 80% ground horse meat, 15% pork, 5% bread crumbs. He understood why she wouldn’t tell him then and there. I’m not positive, but I think the USA is one of very, very few countries that don’t eat horse if its available.