I mentioned those dinner parties earlier in my post about Cheese Balls. These little meat balls were about the same size and were usually there, side-by-side with the Cheese Balls if there were any quantity of guests.
Speaking of “guests”, Dave reminds me that these were usually served on platters already set up with their little toothpicks in them, ready to eat. Very cool for those of us who were kids at the time!
750g minced pork and veal
1 onion, finely grated
100g dried breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
A little allspice or nutmeg (Mum probably used nutmeg)
1 1/2 cups soda water
1 beaten egg
100g butter for frying
Ideally the meat should be minced twice or three times so that it is very fine and it should be no more than 24 hours old.
Combine the meat, onion, breadcrumbs and seasonings in a bowl.
Gradually add the soda water and the beaten egg, stirring until combined.
Cover and leave to stand for 1 hour
Using wet hands, roll the mixture into cocktail size meatballs, lightly and without squeezing.
In a heavy frying pan, melt the butter and allow it to become nut brown. Fry the meatballs.
It is not written in the recipe, but I remember Mum making these ahead of time and wrapping them in foil packages. She stored them in the fridge and reheated them in the oven when it was time to serve them.
