Ever heard of Koenigsberger Klops? Or, for that matter, have you ever tasted Boles de Picolat?
They are meatballs.
And now they are getting long-overdue credit in a happy and funny cookbook entitled "Balls! Round the World Fare for All Occasions" by Angela Murrills (Whitecap).
For the record, Koenigsberger Klops are German meatballs in a lemon sauce that originated in what used to be the Prussian town of Koenigsberg, which is actually now in Russia.
Boles de Picolat comes from the French Pyrenees. The idea is to take your favourite sausages, squeeze them out of their casings and make - yes, meatballs - served with egg noodles.
Murrills, an award-winning Vancouver food writer, says around the world recipes for meatballs abound. But she decided to take the concept one step further, considering other spherical foods such as chocolate truffles or alcoholic beverages with the name Mountain High-Balls.
She was on a roll.
The ballsy book offers helpful tips on meatball basics, such as what meat to use, how to reduce fat, seasoning and the importance of treating them gently.
You'll find recipes for cocktail parties, tapas-style dinners and everyday meals.
"These are not three-star-restaurant dishes," she writes. "This is easy delicious food to make with love for yourself and the people you care about."
"It's food that goes with conversation, discussion and laughter as you all sit down at a table."
Here is a recipe from the book.
Japanese Salmon Rice Balls
The proper name for this dish is onigiri and it's a hugely popular traditional Japanese snack food. It gets tucked into lunch boxes too.
10 ml (2 tsp) vegetable oil
250 g ( 1/2 lb) salmon fillet
10 ml (2 tsp) soy sauce
Salted water
1 l (4 cups) cooked Japanese rice
15 ml (1 tbsp) sesame seeds, plain or toasted
2 sheets nori, cut into strips
In a skillet over medium, heat vegetable oil. Add salmon and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until just cooked through. Let salmon cool and flake it with a fork. Drizzle with soy sauce and mix.
Dip your hands in salted water and take up about 75 ml (1/3 cup) of the cooked rice. Roll into a ball. Make an indentation with your thumb and insert about 15 ml (1 tbsp) of the salmon. You are making 12 salmon balls, so judge accordingly.
Close rice over salmon so it is completely covered. Reshape into a ball and sprinkle lightly with sesame seeds. Wrap each salmon ball decoratively with strips of nori, pressing slightly with your fingers so seaweed adheres.
A plain white platter plays up the dark green of the nori. Garnish with the Japanese salad green mizuna.
Makes 4 servings.
