National Meatball Day

Fruggo at Dutch Wikipedia / CC BY 1.0 NL (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/nl/deed.en)

March 9th is National Meatball Day in the United States.

Meatballs are just what they sound like; ground meat rolled into a ball. Other ingredients are often added, such as onions, butter, eggs, breadcrumbs and seasoning. There are many different ways of cooking meatballs, such as baking, frying, steaming and braising, and they can be made from different meats. There are also varieties that are technically not meatballs, because they contain no meat, instead either having a meat substitute or fish.

Meatballs or their equivalent can be found in cooking all over the world and date back over 2,000 years. They can be served in a number of different ways, including in soups, covered in sauces and in sandwiches. Most meatballs are small balls of meat, but larger ones that need carving can be found. Meatballs can be a comparatively simple dish to prepare; all that's really needed is some way of mincing the meat.