That Swedish meatball sauce isn't traditional, the usual is a brown sauce (flour-butter rue browned on a pan, then add spices and milk or heavy cream) and lingonberry or other bitter berry jam on the side.

@wingracer1614

Жыл бұрын

We also have the bastard version that involves grape jelly and Jack Daniel's.

@CatsPajamas23

Жыл бұрын

@@wingracer1614 You calling our good old American cocktail meatball sauce a bastard?🧐 It's not pretending to be Swedish meatball gravy.

@wingracer1614

Жыл бұрын

@@CatsPajamas23 I love them but everyone I know calls them Swedish meatballs even though they are nothing of the sort

@Mark-nh2hs

Жыл бұрын

I always thought Swedish meatballs were fish based - or have I get it mixed up with another Scandinavian country

@hkoi

Жыл бұрын

@@Mark-nh2hs Those are fiskbullar. Also very good, usually served with a cold dairy-and-dill sauce and some form of potatoes! Each Nordic country has its own version.

As a Swede i can attest that we do just call them meatballs, and we do eat them at home! Every family makes them a bit different though, so I didnt really recognize this preparation as one I would make, but I don't think that makes it unauthentic, just likely one of the many versions you find throughout Sweden! :)

@reallivebluescat

9 ай бұрын

we call them köttbullar, which is more like "meat-buns". They are not perfectly round, if u make em by hand. They are a bit soft so they have a flat side! i would say that meat-"balls" is a misnomer! i think the point of köttbullar is the entire dish, it needs to condiments and sides to complete the swedish meatballs! the lingonberries, the mash and the pickles are what makes them swedish. Gravy is optional. But the sides is what makes it complex

I like the smaller size better because you get crust on each of them and the crust is one of the best parts of a good meatball.

As a Greek person that has been watching your videos for a very very long time i'm so happy to see you do a greek recipe!!! Keftedakia is my mom's favorite food and this recipe looked pretty similar to hers (though hers also has potato in it).

@mrmayortheiv

Жыл бұрын

How do you guys manage to live eating so much cucumber? I feel like cucumber is the single most overwhelmingly powerful flavor on the planet, but unfortunately it uses that power for evil.

@crispyliza7050

Жыл бұрын

@@mrmayortheiv we don't eat it that much, we just use it as an ingredient sometimes, not even very often. And also idk if cucumbers just taste different in different parts of the world (bc i know other vegetables like tomatoes an onions can be pretty different in greece and America) but cucumber almost has no taste to me, it's like a watery crunchy thing with a mild taste

@TheGreektrojan

Жыл бұрын

@@mrmayortheiv Outside of some salads and tzatziki sauce, its actually not very common, at least in my friends/family/region cuisine.

@creepyspookyicky

Жыл бұрын

AGREED!! So happy to see Greek dishes & Chef Ken here!💙🇬🇷🤍

@DimT670

Жыл бұрын

​@@mrmayortheiv cucumber? Powerful flavour? It barely has any flavour 😅

Hi David! A tip on the tzatziki, let the grated cucumber drain a bit so that it does not water down the yogurt! Love your videos!

removing both lingonberry jam and pickles from swedish meatballs will make the dish not worth while, thats where the complexity of the flavour comes from

@scandisnowgirl3696

Жыл бұрын

He had lingonberry, not the sides

@bigjen8238

Жыл бұрын

​@@scandisnowgirl3696 cooking that small amount of berries for an hour definitely reduced their impact.. You can't remove the sides from the dish, the meatballs and mash are mild and comfy, the sides are intensely sweet and sweetsour, they're supposed to play off one another, if the meatballs were packed with spices then the dish would be overwhelming. It's like trying an American burger, but only eating the meat and bun, and later complain that the dish is lacking something

@scandisnowgirl3696

Жыл бұрын

@@bigjen8238 do you see my profile name? SCANDI….. bc I live in Scandinavia. I live in Norway. Please stfu to me explaining my own cultural food to me

@Stetch42

2 ай бұрын

@@bigjen8238 Yah like ordering a Big Mac and skip the sauce.

IKEA's Swedish meatballs always gets me! There's an interesting story behind them: When IKEA opened their first in-store cafe in Älmhult, Sweden in 1953, it didn't have meatballs. Just coffee and cake. That menu changed a bit by adding Swedish dishes like potato mash and sausage as they grew. But no meatballs. Company founder Ingvar Kamprad, who started IKEA as a mail-order company (IKEA's name comes from his initials and the farm and village where he grew up in Sweden), was not happy with the quality and image of the cafes, and thought they were a mess. Sören Hullberg, who led the revamp of the in-store restaurant, came up with a solution with him that would simplify operations, keep costs down, and be able to serve 5K customers a day. They also looked for a dish that was popular throughout the world than just Sweden. And meatballs fit the bill. Efficient to freeze, transport, prepare, and many love them. They were added to the IKEA menu in 1985 and the rest is history.

the small meatballs remind me of vincenzo's plate. He shared a recipe from his nonna with tiny meatballs. I think it was about getting a harmonious bite with meat and spaghetti in the same spoonful

@PlumberryPuppet

Жыл бұрын

That was immediately my first thought when David was asking why it was so small.

@Rose-jz6sx

Жыл бұрын

This makes a lot of sense. Big meatballs with spaghetti are the only kind I know but they never made sense to me, they're unwieldy!

@mirror-images

Жыл бұрын

iirc Italians don't pair spaghetti with meatballs that large for this reason

@raerohan4241

Жыл бұрын

Smaller meatballs have better texture (more browning per unit of ground meat), but larger meatballs are easier to prepare for a crowd. They both have their place in the kitchen

@annbrookens945

Жыл бұрын

...or you can just cut your large meatball into quarters. I'm with David on this: I'm not gonna spend twice or three times as long shaping teeny tiny meatballs!

So a cool thing about the southern Italian region of Abruzzo is almost half of the region's territory is protected through national parks and nature reserves, more than any administrative region on the European continent! Leading it to be dubbed the greenest region in Europe! There are three national parks, one regional park, and 38 protected nature reserves! Abruzzo's parks and reserves host 75% of Europe's animal species. You can find neat creatures there like the chamois (a goat-antelope), the critically endangered Marsican brown bear (found only in Abruzzo), and the Italian wolf! Abruzzo also has the Calderone glacier, which is one of Europe's southernmost glaciers! In Sweden, meatballs are called köttbullar (literally meaning "meat buns"). Swedish meatballs are based on a Turkish recipe, brought back to Sweden by King Charles XII in 1714, after his five-year exile in the Ottoman Empire where he lived after losing to the Russians in 1709. Charles also brought with him coffee beans and stuffed cabbage.

so glad to see a greek dish! a bit of ouzo in the mixture does the trick as well! some people add breadcrumbs as well! (a greek)

Few thoughts: -Would love if after you try them all, you mashup your own version of all the pros of each. -We want to see you make your grandma's meatballs, so next time you do this, put her recipe to the test and see if she came on top. -Steve is great and great place for authentic Italian. Next time check out Vincenzos Plate! Great content, keep it up!!

@creepyspookyicky

Жыл бұрын

DEFINITELY would love to see grandma's recipes!!

When I lived in the US, my friend's father asked me if I often eat Swedish meatballs. I was like "not really, only at IKEA". He was really surprised by my answer. Only then did I realize that he thought I was from Sweden. I'm Swiss haha

Balls

Fun Fact! Lingonberry jam is incredible popular in Austria and is the traditional/most popular condiment to have with Schnitzel. Sadly many English recipes for Schnitzel substitute Lingonberry jam with Cranberry jam which is a lot sweeter and not really suited for Schnitzel.

@90charmedndangerous

Жыл бұрын

Im swedish and i love lingonberry jam with schnitzel 😁

As a greek person,you are the ONLY youtuver that ive seen so far make actual tzatziki,100% authentic.I havent seen anyone use dill in their tzatziki and it weirds me out cuz thats all it is about.ALSO,if you dont wanna go into the trouble of frying them,you can shape them into small oval/logs and bake them in the oven.What my mum does though with the onion is she is blending it in a food processor and it becomes like a paste and she adds some breadcrumps(not necessary though).Just putting this out there for the folks that dont wanna fry them.Oh and add olive oil in the meatballs,thats it!

@crispyliza7050

Жыл бұрын

Εμένα βάζει και κομματάκια πατάτας μέσα και βγαίνουν πολύ ωραίοι οι κεφτέδες

@yvonne5322

Жыл бұрын

Oooh thanks for the tip, I didn't want to fry

@mrmayortheiv

Жыл бұрын

Real question, how do greek people manage to eat so much cucumber? I feel like it's the single most overwhelmingly powerful flavor on the planet. It's so pungent it takes over everything completely and ruins it for me.

@RiaGreece12

Жыл бұрын

@@mrmayortheiv Cucumbers and tomatoes taste different here on Greece than in other countries.I guess that the flavor that you dont like must be the middle part that jell-like.Honestly just scoop it out and you'll be fine

@yvonne5322

Жыл бұрын

​@@mrmayortheiv I don't find cucumbers have a strong taste at all! Pickles do but I find cucumbers mellow.

the point of the smaller balls was for more crust to form, enhancing the flavor

As a Finn, I can say that meatballs are pretty common everyday food in both Sweden and Finland. Finnish meatballs are pretty similar to Swedish meatballs, but with less lingonberry, and more toasted onion flavor. Also served with a thick brown roux and cream sauce.

I looked up Ken's Greek Table, from the comment and that he posted his video 1 year ago, they mentioend he passed away, that is so sad, his cooking looked so good and such a nice person.

@patmos68

Жыл бұрын

He was really good, I really miss him.

@creepyspookyicky

Жыл бұрын

Ohmygod. I had no idea. What a great guy & fabulous chef. Heartbreaking.

In Sweden, they are called köttbullar (which literally means meatballs). I had them in Stockholm and they were absolutely delicious!

I peel my cucumbers, then cut them in half or thirds (depending on length), and use an apple corer to remove the seeds. I hold the piece perpendicular to the box grater and I find it’s much easier to handle that way. And I definitely recommend lightly salting & draining the shreds before mixing into the yogurt.

@mrmayortheiv

Жыл бұрын

I always feel like a crazy person when I see people eating cucumber. How do you stand it? To me raw cucumber is the most overwhelmingly powerful flavor on the planet. It completely dominates (and ruins) everything it touches.

smaller meatballs are arguably better, you make it smaller because you want more surface area to caramelize AKA maillard reaction which yields more flavour

The old spices in the cupboard was pretty funny. We did a massive clean out - found a 12 yr old package of Jell-O pudding in the pantry and some spices that were at least 6+ years past the date.

Hearing you talk about all the Greek food you like just made me so hungry for Greek food! I love the amount of fresh herbs that go into Greek food. All of the meatballs look spectacular, and I love Swedish meatballs, but I would cook the Greek ones. 🤌

As a greek i am happy that you like our food. It is "Spanakorizo",spinach with rice.Tbh in Greece in different parts of our Country people are using different local spices etc, so the same dish may be different in other places in the same country.

Came for the cooking. Stayed for the ball "jokes" :D

love you david! so happy you are still thriving :)) literally been watching since middle school and im in college now

@CatsPajamas23

Жыл бұрын

Same. 🙂

I’m from Abruzzo, so my personal opinion could be biased, but I guarantee anyone that a proper dish of “chitarra con le pallottine” is out of this world. Visit Abruzzo guys, you won’t regret it!

I will forever love this channel. The relatability is so refreshing.

Excellent video because of the different flavors, different meats involved, and some different preparations.

lived in sweden for several years - soy sauce in the brunsås is very common among home cooks - certainly, it does tend to have more to it than the extreme basics from munchies' video, but obvs it's just like any other country's meatballs in that it varies wildly from house to house

@alsokyle

Жыл бұрын

oh, regards to their names - they are hilariously common, every household eats them, teens purchase huge packs of pre-cooked ones from the supermarket to microwave like savages - they're called köttbullar which means exactly what you expect, but there's very occasionally a posh variant called frikadeller that are flatter and sometimes boiled???? but i never had those

Coming from a Greek, your tzatziki needed olive oil and vinegar, not lemon. Other than that, I'm really happy that you enjoy our food 😊

I own a cookie business and ball a lot of dough. If you roll it into a snake (or use a tool that packs it into a tube), then cut it into appropriate sections and roll, it goes faster.

NACS does have a larger version of the meatballs with the meatball sliders. Visually at least, i think it looks like the better recipe.

nice knife skills david, i see that level up

I’m used to having no pork in our meatballs in Sweden. And lingonberry-jam. The sauce is usually cream in the pan after the meatballs, some flour and soy, and maybe jam for the sweetness. And a lot smaller!!

Literally been trying to hunt down the munchies channel and a certain chef for weeks now and could NOT remember the name of the channel or the show I saw to save my life and for some reason couldn’t get it to come up on any searches 🤦‍♀️ then I come here and you reference it. The universe is weird. Those meatballs all look great though and I can’t wait to try them out in our regular meatball rotation! Thank you for the help all around lol

Why did the cucumber need to be standing upright? Am I the only one who laughed out loud at that? 😂😂

I remember that McCormick design back from '91 when I resides in the States. Best before on spices doesn't say anything. The flavour intensity goes down, but that's about it. You could've thrown the entire vat inside and probably would have needed just another pinch.

@kallen868

Жыл бұрын

I'm still using some pretty old spices! Lol.

I love watching your videos! I have been watching for years and thank you for making these videos

My prediction is the Greek meatballs, Greek cuisine is so freaking underrated!

The justification of the small meatballs is the fact that it’s most authentic Italian spaghetti and meatballs. Learned that from Vincenzo’s Plate. A very authentic Italian KZread foodie!

I have been making chef John's meatballs for the last 12 years and they are amazing and always a big hit with anyone that tries them

I think if this Greek meatball and a falafel had a baby it would be amazing

this was definitely one of your best videos yet! keep it up!!!

Hey David, you should definitely start to include some of Brian Lagerstroms Recipes in your videos

@krbouier0505

Жыл бұрын

Yes, he has so many great recipes

@ItsJustLisa

Жыл бұрын

I’ve bookmarked several of his recipes too.

@duanewente457

Жыл бұрын

His roasted tomato soup recipe is amazing!

On the Amalfi coast, I had huge meatballs that were baked. They were so delicious.

as a swede, the swedish meatballs depends heavily on who makes them lol. but the base recipe is usually minced meat (either beef or beef and pork mix), sweet onion (or yellow onion), an egg, bread crumbs, milk, and salt and pepper. allspice tend to usually be reserved for the christmas variation, but that also depends on the person making them. in my family allspice has always been a christmas meatball ingredient tho lol. for the sauce, we usually use the left over fat from frying the meatballs, and then mix that in a pot with cream, and sometimes jam and sometimes extra spices, and in my family we usually throw in a little soy sauce as well. another popular thing to do with meatballs here, instead of having potatoes and sauce with them, is to have stewed macaroni with it. for that you just boil the macaroni, make a bechamel sauce, and mix the macaroni into the sauce and throw in a little nutmeg. that is usually served with ketchup instead of lingonberry sauce.

Greek meatballs are the best, a good Swedish meatball is a second best. The sauce used here was not a good one. I don't know if you were aware but Ken, passed away suddenly a couple of years ago. He is sorely missed.

im here David. i have since the og pizza days and lately ive just been nonstop binging your videos. anyways, happy late birthday and nothing but love for you. thanks for making these and please keep doing it

The immediate sigh of regret after "Have a mouthful of the balls" was perfect

You should try the sugarologie frosting method. I haven't seen anyone recreate it yet. Specifically the black cocoa recipe.

I make tiny meatballs for wedding soup. It’s easier if you scoop them all then roll them smooth after.

The tiny meatballs are so good in tomato soup, or any soup! :)

Great Video!

Traditional Italian meatballs are like those small ones from NACS. They're small because they were traditionally made at home by families that couldn't afford to buy much meat, so by making them small they could still make sure that everyone in the family got a few meatballs. The big meatballs that most people outside of Italy would call "Italian" are actually American, although they were made by Italian immigrants. They are basically just bigger versions of traditional Italian meatballs, and the reason they're bigger is because meat was much more plentiful and affordable in America, so everyone in the family could still have a few meatballs even if they made them bigger.

Surprise video! God Bless you David! Adore you to bits!

There was a thing of baking powder in my family’s spice pantry forever. Finally managed to use it up this year, it was older than me- it expired in *1995*.

Would be fun for you to try best pita recipes! 😃

We make almost the same Greek meatballs in our house, but we add finely chopped leeks. They’re delicious.

I'm going to make the greek ones but not in meatball form... those would be an awesome Burger.

@creepyspookyicky

Жыл бұрын

Add some feta to the mix & if you like lamb, try half beef half lamb mix. It's out of this world!

I know this is irrelevant but figured I’d mention it. The title should be “whose.” Since everything else in your videos is spot on I thought I might as well point it out since it’s in the title. Great video

Whenever I have expired spices I taste them first and if they taste okay I use them up rapidly in spice cake or cookies or chutneys to use them up and not waste. Expired spices are often just weaker versions of themselves so double up on the quantities and taste everything as it's cooking. hope this hint is useful. Jim Oaxaca mexico

The greek meatballs are the same way my Greek grandmother makes them-- she will make her own version of the Greek soup avgolemono with them-- everything else is the same, but instead of chicken you add the meatballs. Highly recommend trying it out if you're obsessed with Greek food atm!

Omg those mccormick labels remind me of my mom’s kitchen! She probably still has some too!

For me as a Swede, those meatballs are way 2 big! And often we (in my family) do them with a creamsause made from the butter and meatball"juices" in the pan, heavy cream, salt n pepper and a bit of soy for color. And I put a tiny squeeze of honey in the sauce. Sometimes I put allspice in the balls and lingonberryjam in the sauce. I live up by the arctic circle so my meatballs I do n grew up with are maid with moosemince or reindeermince. I rarely use cow or other meat. 😊 But I love meatballs as do many Swedes ❤

The authentic sauce for Swedish meatballs is a beef gravy reduced and thickened with some variables on the spices and or herbs used. Very sticky and lip-smacking. 😋

David for the tzatziki try and use distilled white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar) and some olive oil instead of lemon ❤

In a properly sealed contained, in a dry, temperature controlled, dark environment many spices can last for decades. Quite literally. Some of them can loose some in flavour, but others can even get better with age.

Would love to see you try a recipe from Vincenzo’s Plate. He is very particular on making Carbonara the authentic way. He has a recipe for the Abbruzo meatballs too.

Yeah the meatballs are quite authentic (but I would add onions sauteed in butter, and make them smaller). Also the sauce looks quite odd. We usually make a pan sauce with cream and stock after the meatballs are fried. And we call them meat buns, not balls (köttbullar).

i wanna try the greek ones so bad omg

You should try Brian Lagerstrom’s Swedish meatballs - they’re so good!

I believe the small ‘copette’ meatballs are more traditional Italian than Italian American.

Always a good day when this man posts

Greetings from Greece!! Try a drizzle of olive oil on the tzatziki next time ;)

A mouthful of the balls….I’m dying over here. So many opportunities for jokes lol ❤️🌈❤️🌈

I can't imagine the amount of jokes that can be taken out of context from this video...

I make sesame chicken meatballs every weekend!! Its become a household staple for us with rice , or even in soups!

Ground spices have a year to two years of life. They don't go **bad** per se, but anything over two years won't taste that good. And yes, Swedes eat "köttbullar". It's a real thing and not just something sold in IKEA. :)

Come visit Astoria! We have the best tavernas in New York State!

Mexican albóndigas are delicious, try making them as well sometime

Not a Swede but dated one for a couple years and yes, they do eat them quite regularly to the point I even learned how to make them for my ex.

6:15: 1. Yes, as a swede, as far as i know we only say "meatballs" to "swedish meatballs". But we also don't call other meatballs something else, i guess we do say "swedish meatballs", or "italian meatballs" if we want to specify which we mean in certain situations though. 2. Yes, most of us eats meatballs and i think it's something from sweden. It depends on the person, not everytone eats meatballs, and most who do don't do it that often. Maybe around one or a couple of times per month. But i don't think everyone does it so traditional, i think some buy done meatballs, and some make their own. I'm not sure of this since i don't cook myself and don't have actual knowledge of making them, so it's mostly guesses, but i think that most of those who make their own meatballs don't make it that complicated, or traditional. However, at some holidays, such as christmas i think it's more common to eat homemade and nicer/more traditional meatballs.

David the next time before you refrigerate your tzatziki drizzle some olive on it, also if you want it a bit more spicy and less cooling use more garlic !

I am offended you didn't try more oriental meatballs, like actual kefta. Round 2 please!

Best by ≠ expired by. It just means that flavour deteriorate after that date. As long as it smells good you can eat it. Don’t waste them just for that date alone.

The Abruzzo dish is absolutely authentic. Just a side note: don’t spend extra $ for San Marzano “style” tomatoes. Regular plum tomatoes are just as good. Also, read the ingredients. Cento, to my knowledge, is one of the only mass produced brands that has ONLY tomatoes listed. No citric acid, no emulsifiers, etc. Cento Tomato Purée is my go-to every time…or fresh cherry tomatoes which make a delicious quick fresh sauce. Btw I love your videos❣️

@matildemennella5214

Жыл бұрын

Non sono per niente autentiche....

You must try some recipes from Pasta Grammar. They are such a great couple and the recipes are as authentics as you can get

Tiny meatballs are for those perfect bites. Sign me up!

Got covid and watching all this food is making me nauseous. But I'm still doin it

Some recipes add beef gelatin into their meatballs so they stay super juicy when cooked! Sort of like soup dumplings

As a swede I can confirm that we call them just meatballs "köttbullar".

I saw meatballs and knew this was gonna be good.

Now i kinda wanna see you try not another cooking shows 7 fishes video

A lot of Italian grandma's make tiny meatballs so everyone gets some, and it's hard to be jealous of how much someone else has since you can't really count them

From Sweden. Well meatballs are meatballs, so we do call them meatballs (in swedish köttbullar) . When doing the entire Dish called "Swedish meatballs" in English, we commonly in Sweden just say meatballs, too. So even if you made like half the dish, weirdly starting with the too runny sauce, we still probably would just call it meatballs aswell 😂 Just a little clarification: "Swedish meatballs" is an entire dish, meatballs exist in many different variations around the world, but this meatball dish kind of originated in Sweden, there is a similar dish in Denmark, and also in Norway. "Swedish meatballs", has a few variations, from household to household, but there is still some basics to what it contain. Basically the dish contains: as if it isn't clear enough, Meatballs (there are variations, but generally they're made with beef and pork mince, about half of both, and finely chopped onions, breadcrumbs, splash of milk, one egg, and at least salt and pepper, other spices can be used sometimes), next is Potatoes (can be just boiled potatoes, or mashed potatoes, or potato puré, and so on), Cream gravy or Brown sauce, Lingon berries (usually as a jam, or raw stired with some sugar, or just raw lingon berries), last optionally Pressgurka (long stripes of cucumber, quickly pickled while being pressed. Name referring to Gurka, meaning Cucumber in swedish, and Press, telling us it been pressed down by weight while pickling, usually like at least 30min to 1h). Hoped you enjoyed some information 🍽

Future reference, if you buy fresh parsley, the Italian flat leaf is better than the curly stuff

The balls jokes 😂

who doesn't love a mouth full of balls

I think the sharpness you're missing from the swedish meatball could come from the lingonberry jam