Wandering around a supermarket recently, I spied an unusual item that I hadn't encountered before.
The item in question resembled an extremely overcooked little meat patty almost like a burger, but so great was my curiosity that I couldn't wait to get home and 'Google' it to find out exactly what they were, and as it turns out they were very interesting!
What I had discovered was 'Frikadellen'! What the 'f.... ' is a 'frickadellen'? well the natives of this little island will certainly not be familiar with these things unless they have been to Germany that is! or if they were adventurous enough to buy them!
According to that great oracle 'wikipedia', the 'frickadellen' is a small meat 'dumpling', but rather than having a the round shape of a dumpling it is more like a meat patty really. They are very popular in Germany and in many of those other 'eastern block' countries.
Traditionally they are made from a minced veal, pork or beef base with the addition of chopped onions, breadcrumbs or oatmeal and egg, used to bind I assume! Excuse my presumptuousness but doesn't that sound exactly like meatloaf?
Once everything is mixed together they are formed into balls, flattened into the little 'patty' shapes, and pan fried in pork fat or beef dripping or some other suitable frying oil.
When it comes to serving them in the traditional European manner, you will find them in the company of boiled potatoes, cabbage and gravy........how 'Irish' is that!
Once I understood what they were, I thought to myself, now that sounds mighty tasty, but as I have this aversion to buying processed foods, (because can you ever really know what is in it?) instead of trotting back to the supermarket and purchasing some, I decided to make my own, and why wouldn't I?Frickadellen on their own seem just a little too bare on the plate when cooked so I've decided to jazz them up a bit and make it more of a hearty and warming winter dish.
For my 'Fancy Frickadellen' recipe click HERE!
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