Kottbullar-Swedish Meatballs (Courtesy of http://www.sweden.se)
I am a very Swedish person, my great-grandmother came over here from Sweden back in the 1920’s. I understand a few of the customs of food, such as lutefisk and lefse, which I both love. One thing however that I love the most is Swedish meatballs. But with almost every ethnic group out there having their own version on the meatball I wondered what made the Swedish meatball Swedish?
So I dug into it a little and found out that there is actually a combination of two ingredients that makes the Swedish meatball, Swedish. That is milk and bread crumbs. The breadcrumbs are placed in a bowl with the milk and soaked, which helps gives the meatball the common soft texture.
Also, interesting, is the meat that makes up a Swedish meatball. In northern Sweden beef is mostly used to make a more lean meatball. In the southern region pork is more commonly used.
In my families recipe we use pork and veal, which leads me to believe that they came from southern Sweden. So, there really is something that helps to make the Swedish meatball, Swedish.
This is the recipe that my family likes to use:
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
1 cup milk
1 lb pork and 1 lb veal
1 cup onion-diced
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dry mustard
Put the bread crumbs and milk in a large bowl and let them soak for about 5-10 minutes until all absorbed. Combine remaining ingredients into bread crumb mixture, mixing until well incorporated. Using, melon baller or your hands form the meat into balls about the size of 3/4″- 1 1/2″ ball. The smaller size meatball is more common to Sweden, as other meat balls around the globe tend to be larger. Set oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the meatballs on a sheet pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until brown on the outside. You can make your own gravy with a mix, or you can take the juices and put them in a sauce pot, add some stock and boil it down to make a gravy out of the left over juices. But ultimately the gravy is up to you.
Hope everyone can learn about and enjoy Swedish meatballs as many other people do. Give them a try!!
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