TRC4941
December 20, 2022, 3:06pm
21
Dr.Drake:
My relatives in Calabria certainly cooked with meatballs: I remember having this Pasta al forno con polpettine - economica facile e veloce . I don’t know how “traditional” it is, but it was certainly made in an Italian home by Italian people without any feeling that it was remarkable or exotic.
The only think I’d say is that while I’ve seen many a meatball and also meatloaf, I don’t think I’ve every seen the giant Italian-American meatballs in Italy. Theirs are always a good deal smaller, in my experience, and I don’t think anyone in my family ever made meatballs larger than maybe an inch in diameter. I always perceive anything larger as inauthentic, though I really like them.
My grandparents were all from Calabria too. The meatballs were never ball shaped but egg-shaped and just slightly smaller than an average egg. They were never fried or baked first either. They were plopped raw into the pot of simmering sauce.