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Swedish Meatballs, From the Comfort of Home
Last year, I read a multivolume Proustian novel about the life of the Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard.
The minutiae of his experience were the point of the book, elaborated in extravagant detail. Everything in his day-to-day life was there, every cigarette break, drinking spree and marital argument — everything, that is, but his meals. What did this guy eat? He mentions only one food with any regularity: the frozen rissoles he heated up for many a meal.
So then, what’s a rissole?
Finding the answer was more difficult than you’d think. Every time I searched online for Norwegian or Scandinavian rissoles, recipes for meatballs like you’d get at Ikea would appear. And when I searched for just rissoles, I got a variant of French-style potato or meat croquettes.
I never did figure out exactly what he was eating.
But the research gave me a hankering for Swedish meatballs, which are about the most perfect thing you could make on a cold, wet evening, whether you’re in Scandinavia, New York or anywhere else a comforting, cozy meal will do your body good.
To clarify: What we call Swedish meatballs here in the United States are made all over Scandinavia, in myriad ways.
Most recipes use a combination of beef and pork: the beef for chew, the pork for flavor and richness. I like a ratio of 50/50, but feel free to change that to suit your tastes. And note that many people substitute veal for the pork. You could probably even try ground turkey.
As for seasonings, onions, either raw or sautéed, are often added to the meat, along with warming spices like allspice, nutmeg and ginger.
Another important ingredient is bread crumbs in milk, which give the meatballs an incredible tenderness. I used panko, which I think provides a fluffier texture than more finely ground dried bread crumbs. Or you could use a diced slice of soft sandwich bread if that’s more convenient.
As anyone who has ever bought a Billy bookcase is likely to know, Swedish meatballs are incomplete without a pool of creamy gravy. Here, I’ve seasoned the gravy with brandy for complexity and mustard for tang. If you’ve still got that jar of lingonberry jam in the fridge from your last bookcase-buying trip, a dollop adds a touch of sweetness and some very welcome color to the plate.
Recipe: Swedish Meatballs
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