Les Boules de Picolat -- Catalonian meatballs
There is certainly more to meatballs than Sweden would have us believe. This dish combines the best from my two favourite countries. I first ate this dish in a tapas bar in Perpignan in the province of Roussillon, also known as French Catalonia. The location alone would ensure a Spanish influence; however, much of Perpignan's population is of Spanish origin. Basking beside the Medit-erranean, the province is abundant in fruit, vegetables, grapes and olive trees whose oil dominates the cooking of this region.
This dish is great for an informal evening meal with friends. The meatballs are prepared using a mixture of beef and pork with some breadcrumbs. The beef is important to give flavour and the pork ensures the texture is softer.
The ingredients required for four hungry persons are: 400g minced beef, 300g pork mince, 1 egg, 2 cloves of garlic, 120g fresh breadcrumbs, one medium onion (chopped), 80g diced bacon or Bayonne ham, two ripe tomatoes (chopped), 500g tomato passata, 150g pitted green olives, 100g sliced mushrooms, 10g dried ceps (optional), olive oil, 5g sea salt, 1g freshly milled black pepper and plain flour.
First mix the pork & beef with two crushed cloves of garlic, the breadcrumbs and one egg. Form into balls of around 40g a piece and coat in flour. Drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of a large heavy-bottomed frying pan and brown the meatballs all over.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, fry the diced bacon or Bayonne ham with the chopped onions in a little olive oil until the onions are golden brown. Add the meatballs, olives, bacon, passata, chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, dried ceps (porcini mushrooms) and black pepper with a little water if necessary to ensure the sauce just covers the meatballs. Pour yourself a glass of wine, cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
The ceps, if used, give a rich almost meaty note to this dish. Bayonne Ham from the Basque region of France is a salt-cured mildly smoked raw ham that is great in cooking.
My suggestions are to eat this rustic dish with steamed beans or baby courgettes and a large crusty loaf. The perfect wine accompaniment is a Côtes de Roussillon Villages, with its deep ruby colour and intense spice and vanilla aroma from ageing in oak. The wine is powerful with ripe fruit flavours.
Celia Wright studied food science at Nottingham University and started her career with Unigate working at Bowyers, Trowbridge. She moved on to Weetabix working as a development technologist in Burton Latimer and Canada. She spent 11 years with Northern Foods working at Pennine Foods, Gunstones, Fenland Foods and Parrs, until 1996 when she joined S&A Foods as head of R&D. There she developed numerous products and worked with several top chefs including Ken Hom.
In 2001 she set up Cheftech, an NPD and technical consultancy covering both retail and foodservice markets. She is also a member of the Development Chefs' Network. pryvn@pursgrpu.pb.hx ;
