Köttbullar are perhaps Sweden’s most known dish. This means that most of us have come across and tried the mass produced variants of these pork meatballs, adapted to appeal to people unaccustomed to the flavours and ingredients of Swedish cuisine.
A story about the introduction of the köttbullar in Swedish cuisine, attributes it to Karl XII of Sweden who, after losing the battle of Poltava against the army of Russian Emperor Peter the Great in 1709, had fled together with a few hundred Swedish soldiers and a large number of rebellious Cossacks to Moldova, in the territories of the Ottoman Empire. There, he set camp in the region of the town of Bender, where he was surrounded by the Ottoman army, and, after fierce resistance he was taken captive. Karl XII and his soldiers spent a total of five years in the Ottoman Empire. Their eventual return to Sweden brought to the Swedish language the Turkish word kalabalık (meaning occurrence, skirmish, spate) – the Swedes used it to describe the skirmish at Bender (Kalabaliken i Bender), and, some say, the meatball. Indeed, a meatball recipe first appeared in a book by Anna Christina or Cajsa Warg, one of the best-known cooks in Swedish history, published in 1755.
For the köttbullar you will need
- 300 g ground beef
- 200 g minced pork
- 1 cup of breadcrumbs
- 1 cup créme fraiche
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp butter to fry the onions in
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoonful ground allspice
- 1 teaspoonful dried dill
- salt and white pepper
- 50 g butter to fry the meatballs in
Mix the breadcrumbs with the créme fraiche. Heat the butter and lightly brown the onion in it. Mix onions, eggs, allspice and dill into the bread mixture. Stir together the minced meat. Add the bread mixture and mix everything well. Season with salt and pepper. Shape into meatballs with water-rinsed hands. Place them on dish and place in the fridge to rest for 15−20 minutes.
Fry the meatballs in batches in butter for about 5 minutes until they get an even, nice brown color. Shake the pan from time to time. Serve the meatballs freshly baked with cream sauce, lingonberries and sweet pickles.
Illustration from Hjelpreda I hushållningen för unga Fruentimber (Helpful Guide in Housekeeping for Young Women), by Cajsa Warg in 1755. Artist: Pehr Geringius
For the cream sauce you will need
- 1 ½ litre beef broth
- 50 g butter
- 100gr wheat flour
- 300gr sour cream
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- salt and ground white pepper
Boil the broth and reduce it to 2/3 of its original volume. Melt the butter, stir in the flour and add the broth and the sour cream. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper.
the kitchen sorcerer 