Some Meatballs For Once

An awe inspiring graphic accompanying an article bristling with deeply embedded pearls of great price - the New York Times article was obviously begging to be violently excerpted and quotationized to serve the murky agendas of SMC. So here you go, for once some meatballs.

If you’ve ever suspected that meatballs were a dead end, you no longer have reason to fear.

Certain chefs lavish as much care and attention on meatballs as they do on foie gras. Some even combine the two.

Whether the interpretations are classical or modernist, one thing is certain: there’s never been a better time to order meatballs.

Perhaps a meatball renaissance was inevitable.

The dawn of the meatball enlightenment may have occurred five years ago.


By about 2004, the public was primed to gobble meatballs up.

They’re delicate and super-light with a subtle cheesiness.

While no smart chef these days would admit to fancy-pants aspirations, some do appear eager to indulge the kid-with-a-chemistry-set impulse that itself seems part of the appeal of making meatballs.

We wanted to make sure that if we were going to do meatballs, we were going to do them differently.

I did some research into an Eastern European meatball recipe, but it evolved into a more Greek recipe, with Moorish and North African influences.

On the vital issue of meatball texture, all the chefs we interviewed had good tips and pointers, most of which spoke to the same issue: water.


Most people are afraid when meatballs are sticky. They shouldn’t be.


Naturally, there are some voices of dissent about meatball mania.

And our favorite quote has to be:

Where meatballs are concerned, results are more important than authenticity.