This is a sensitive issue for me, one that fills me in equal parts with pride and prejudice. On the one hand, there are all the associations with the hurdy-gurdy chef from Sesame Street, the Abba-esque accents and of course the canteen of a certain furniture megastore. On the other, there’s what I know: my grandmother’s gorgeous, traditional, buttery speciality – half beef and half pork, laced with breadcrumbs, stock and lots of pepper; served frequently and much loved. We don’t normally have them with jam and mash, they just form part of a buffet (yes, yes, a smörgåsbord) when there’s lots of family and friends to feed. No occasion seems complete without them, but, as a firm kids’ favourite, they are equally served at family dinner tables every day. However, there is no need to resign them to rigid tradition, to salt, to butter and to the frying pan. They can be made much healthier by baking them in the oven and serving with lots of vegetables. My cumin-scented lamb meatballs are bulked out with lentils, which keeps them wonderfully moist. I also love to make a pork and pumpkin version, and the fish ball is also very popular – mine are Thai scented and served in a chilli noodle soup.
“Man får väl dom köttbullar man förtjänar” [“I guess you get the meatballs you deserve”] Desirée in the film Grabben I Graven Bredvid [The Guy in the Grave Next Door, 2002]