The meatballs Americans know best are the ground beef, Italian variety that crowns a plate of spaghetti, or nestled with marinara and gooey cheese inside a crusty roll as a hoagie.
Yet so many other cultures across the globe love meatballs, too, even if they use different meats, spices and cooking methods to craft the ingredients into a delicious bite-sized nosh.
Depending on the cook and the favorite meat in the country of origin — lamb is a key ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine while pork rules supreme in Asia — meatballs can be fried, steamed, boiled, grilled or braised. Many are dipped in egg and flour and rolled in breadcrumbs to add a crispy outer layer; others are slowly simmered in a liquid or sauce for juicy tenderness.
The meat can be chopped, minced or even ground into a paste before being rolled into its prototypical rotund shape. Some don’t include meat at all but instead are built using grains like rice or quinoa and stuffed with a surprise filling like cheese or peas. Italian arancini, which are crafted with short-grain risotto rice and filled with cubes of mozzarella, are a perfect example.