Meatballs – Global Comfort Food

Name a country, and no doubt they’ll have their own version of dumplings, and certainly more than one. They are traditional foods for millions, eaten during religious and festive holidays, enjoyed with meats, smothered in sauce, served as desserts, or simply on their own as a light meal. They can be dipped, stuffed, boiled, fried or steamed.

Meatballs are an ancient food. Historians believe that the cavemen actually cooked up some version. (Maybe the ground up dinosaur was balled up and dropped into boiling water, once they figured out how to create fire.) Stuffed dumplings were probably developed centuries later, known as iiaozi, most likely about 2,000 years ago. Credit for its creation goes to a man named Zhang Zhongjian, a renowned herbal medicine doctor during the Han Dynasty. Many poor people in his hometown suffered from the low temperatures and had their ears bitten by frost. He prepared large vats of boiled vegetable soup, added herbs, then tossed in dumplings and fed the concoction to the populace. (Surely this was the precursor to chicken soup for colds and flu.) The dumplings were made from thin slices of wheat and chopped vegetables. The herbal soup filled, calmed and helped thaw the locals. In fact, they resembled the same shape and size you see in Chinese restaurants today.

Although they had been eaten for centuries in China, during the 13th century Turkish traders were introduced to mantis dumplings in Mongolia. They resembled traditional Chinese, a thin dough stuffed with meats and vegetables that is then steamed, often served with garlic and yogurt, pickled cabbage, or cucumber. The Turks took them back to the Middle East and from there they went to Western Europe, where each country created its own version. The Italians first introduced the concept of meatballs with their light potato-based gnocchi sometime in the 15th century. Unfortunately having scouted Marco Polo, who lived several hundred years earlier, he missed out on this glorious Italian specialty and had to limit his dumpling consumption to trips to China. (A long way to go for takeout). Eventually, tortellini and ravioli pasta were created, similar to Chinese wontons.

India has many versions of dumplings, which vary by region and by traditional and religious festivities. Africa also presents a multitude of types and methods of cooking, from one country to another. Spanish empanadas are a favorite in many South American countries, including Mexico and the Caribbean. They can be fried or steamed, with sweet or savory fillings. The English and Irish often put them in stews. In the Czech Republic and other Slavic countries, bread dumplings are most popular, which are made from a yeast dough, shaped into a large ball of dough resembling a football, and boiled until done. . Light and delicious, they are served with sauce or sauerkraut. A favorite dessert or light meal, fruit dumplings are made by wrapping a plum or apricot in a batter and boiling until cooked, then covered with melted butter, cinnamon, sugar and served hot.

For settlers, meatballs in some form were an easy way to spice up soups and stews. And there is some evidence that even the Native American Indians had some form before colonial settlements, probably made with cornmeal. They could take almost any meat or vegetable, chop it up, wrap it in dough or old bread, and drop it into the boiling pot on the hearth. As thousands of ethnic immigrants poured into New York City, they brought with them their own traditional recipes and versions, turning the country’s melting pot into just that: full of meatballs. In the Midwest and South, where chickens were plentiful and Sunday dinner was a tradition, chicken and dumplings took center stage after a morning at church. This popular dish is still accepted and enjoyed by millions and is just as traditional as apple pie or apple dumplings. The enthusiastic President Thomas Jefferson most likely enjoyed Sunday dinners of chicken and dumplings at the White House and at his home, Monticello.

Many restaurants and towns across the country celebrate Dumplings Week, and entire restaurants include dumplings in their name. (The Dumpling House is a popular restaurant in the Chicago suburbs where a large population of Slovak and German descent reside.)

If there is a common food that unites the whole world, it is meatballs. So did cavemen start the trend? Or was it the Chinese? Up to you. The Japanese said it best: “Dumplings are better than flowers.”