I do all the stuff Sal says not to do -- pretty much every mistake -- and yeah I get a fairly dry, dense meatball. So when I have time I'm going to try it his way. I'm certainly looking forward to making the fried ones.
I use ground pork & beef and sometimes veal if available, less breadcrumbs or stale bread, than often called for, and I ALWAYS coarsely grate ALL the onion called for in a normal receipt! Makes for very juicy meat balls. Don't overcook in sauce. Just got to that part of your video. Meatballs are much smaller in Italy than the U.S. even the Southern Italian version in Italy the BALLS are TINY by comparison. Coming from crippling poverty and scarcity of foodstuff to a country of relative abundance and dependable employment, led immigrants rather quickly to a more gluttonous reinterpretation of their traditional receipts and the creation of new ones. Hence huge meat balls, cheap beef and plentiful supply in contrast to Italy at the time. Italian American cuisine has not a lot in common to traditional Italian. There are some dishes that are akin to one another but on the whole what most Americans know as Italian isn't even Italian American. Many pasta & meatball dishes in Italy call for meatballs the size of marbles or smaller. This allows you to get more even distribution with the pasta and you get a lot of meatiness from a relatively small amount.
Another great comment. Thank you! I will forever say that the cucina povera is the best way to cook. Although people don't need to add anything to the meatballs besides lean meat from an economic standpoint, they are better when you add breadcrumbs and fat. The old recipes are often far better and to think that they were born out of poverty. It didn't matter if they were poor, they still ate well.
I do all the stuff Sal says not to do -- pretty much every mistake -- and yeah I get a fairly dry, dense meatball. So when I have time I'm going to try it his way. I'm certainly looking forward to making the fried ones.
Very good, well explained... Congrat. I'm surprised I'm the only one who say so, here... Laszlo Montreal Photog.
I use ground pork & beef and sometimes veal if available, less breadcrumbs or stale bread, than often called for, and I ALWAYS coarsely grate ALL the onion called for in a normal receipt! Makes for very juicy meat balls. Don't overcook in sauce. Just got to that part of your video. Meatballs are much smaller in Italy than the U.S. even the Southern Italian version in Italy the BALLS are TINY by comparison. Coming from crippling poverty and scarcity of foodstuff to a country of relative abundance and dependable employment, led immigrants rather quickly to a more gluttonous reinterpretation of their traditional receipts and the creation of new ones. Hence huge meat balls, cheap beef and plentiful supply in contrast to Italy at the time. Italian American cuisine has not a lot in common to traditional Italian. There are some dishes that are akin to one another but on the whole what most Americans know as Italian isn't even Italian American. Many pasta & meatball dishes in Italy call for meatballs the size of marbles or smaller. This allows you to get more even distribution with the pasta and you get a lot of meatiness from a relatively small amount.
Another great comment. Thank you! I will forever say that the cucina povera is the best way to cook. Although people don't need to add anything to the meatballs besides lean meat from an economic standpoint, they are better when you add breadcrumbs and fat. The old recipes are often far better and to think that they were born out of poverty. It didn't matter if they were poor, they still ate well.
@@actuallyitalian Revisiting this and I cannot agree more, cucina povera is often what gives us the most inspirational culinary offerings.