Ikea gave the world cheap and practical furniture. But also the meatballs, which are worth the sin!
Meatballs with cranberry sauce are considered Sweden’s national dish. But if we wanted to be consistent, we would have to admit that the Scandinavians somewhat “beaten” this delicacy from the Turks. One legend says that in the 18th century the Swedish king Karl XII. to Russia, and when he was defeated at Poltava, he sought refuge with the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III. The Ottoman ruler received his guest warmly and gave him asylum and friendly arms. The Swedish king liked the Ottoman Empire so much that he spent four long years there. When he returned home from his stay, he took the recipe for his favorite meatballs and cabbage rolls as a souvenir. And not only that! He is said to have been the first to bring coffee to the north! His compatriots are still grateful to him and drink hectoliters of it every day in his honor.
The author of the Starej fotr video will show you how to prepare the most delicious Swedish meatballs. More on the channel YouTube.com.
Source: Youtube
Battle of meatballs and balls
But back to the meatballs. The truth is that the Swedes are extremely sensitive to their specialty and do not like to hear rumors about a takeover recipe. Most of them point out the difference between the Turkish original (called köfte) and the Swedish balls. While the Turks prepare their specialty from beef and lamb and in the end it is shaped like meatballs (or rolls), the Scandinavians opt for balls, the basis of which is ground beef (or elk) meat, breadcrumbs, milk, cream, things, salt, pepper and fried bulb. What to say to that? The Swedes have already adapted their national dish to their tastes over the centuries and, as you can see, quite well. Ikea balls are a clear proof. And how can you prepare this delicacy yourself at home?
Scandinavian recipe
Mix 500g of ground beef and 250g of ground pork in a bowl. Add 1 chopped onion, 1 crushed clove of garlic, 100 g of breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 5 tablespoons of whole milk, pepper and salt to the meat mixture. Then form balls from the mixture, straighten them on a plate, cover with a lid and leave to rest in the fridge for two hours. After that, fry the balls in hot oil until golden and then place them covered in the oven, where they will finish baking at 180 °C for another 30 minutes.
The perfect sauce
In the meantime, you can go for the iconic Swedish sauce. How to do it: Melt 40 g of butter in a pan and mix it with 40 g of plain flour. Add 150ml vegetable stock and 150ml beef stock to the mixture and stir again until all ingredients are combined. Finally, add 150 ml of cream, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Bring everything to a boil and once the sauce thickens, you’re done!
Serving style
Serve the meatballs topped with the sauce. The best side dish is small boiled chips. If you don’t want to scrape them, you can get by with classic mashed potatoes. But don’t forget to add a piece of cranberry jam to the meal, which will give the dish a typical Scandinavian accent.
Sources: www.irozhlas.cz, www.toprecepty.cz
