Green meatballs, sounds appetizing, doesn't it? Of course, the original recipe title isn't much better. In the French it is simply balls.

This is one of our favorite recipes in our demonstration kitchen.  Partly because it is so nummy, but also because it really only works with medieval techniques. How technology changes what we cook fascinates me. I have tried this recipe many times using purely modern techniques and am always disappointed, but out on the fire it comes alive.  

Balls (French Meat Balls)

• 1 lb ground lamb

• 1 lb ground pork

• 32 Grains of Paradise, ground in mortar (about 1/4 tsp ground) plain pepper or cardamom may be substituted.

• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 1 egg white

Batter

• 3/4 - 1 cup fresh  parsley crushed in a mortar

• flour

• 1 egg yolk

• broth from parboiling.

 Mix meat, spices and egg white together and form into small balls (ping pong size makes about 24)

Cook in simmering well-salted water until firm. (Save some of this broth for making the batter later.)

Meanwhile, crush parsley in mortar (about 3/4 -1 cup) Don't try chopping it either by hand or machine. Neither technique releases the parsley juice the way crushing the herbs in a mortar does.  Mix in egg yolk, a little flour (start with about a tablespoon, add more as needed) and a few spoonfuls of broth from parboiling. Alternate adding flour and broth till you get the right consistency. You are looking for a thin bright green batter that will stick to the meatballs.

Roll the meatballs in the batter and slide onto skewers. Roast over hot coals until batter is set but still green and meatballs are fully cooked. Additional batter may be brushed on the meatballs as they cook or they can be rolled in it gain as indicated in the original recipe. The time required will vary depending on how hot your fire is, atmospheric conditions and how hungry you are. 

 Original recipe

 From Le Menagier de Paris (1393) as translated by Janet Hinson. This translation is available at www.daviddfriedman.com/.../Menagier/Menagier.html 

 BALLS. Take raw lean meat from a mutton thigh, and the same from a lean pork thigh. It should be all chopped very finely together, then grind in the mortar ginger, grains, clove, and sprinkle it into your chopped meat, and then moisten with egg-white with no yolk; then use your hands to shape the raw meat and spices into balls, then when the shapes are well made, put them on to cook in water with salt, then take them out, and have some hazelwood skewers and spit them and set them to roast; and when they turn brown, have some parsley ground and sieved and flour mixed together, neither too clear nor too thick, and take your balls from the fire and put a dish under them, and turning the spit on the dish, anoint your balls well, then return to the fire as often as necessary until the balls are done.

Meatballs on the fire Junefaire 2006

This recipe employs a technique similar to endoring, whereby the meatballs are coated in a batter while roasting to give them color. Endoring, coloring a dish with a golden crust,  is the most widely know of these techniques.  Medieval cooks also encrusted roasts in red, white, brown, black and in this case green. There is a recipe in the German lexicon that colors roast chickens in all six colors.

Other Protein Recipes

• Ahrash of Lamb
• Cheese and Bacon Pastries
• Doucettes
• Figgy Piggy Pie
• Cumin Chicken Pie
• Catalan Stew
• Ravioli
• Roman Sausages with spelt and pine nuts.
• Simple Salmon Pie

Other French Recipes

• Saffron Millet
• French Lamb Pies

Stuff Mateusz Made for the Kitchen