The ricotta one is most intriguing, but they all sound great! Meatless Monday coming up!!!❤ I want you to know, I've never bought tuna so much as when I'm making your recipes! In 43 years of marriage I have never bought chicken of the sea...nope, nope, nope! I'm able to find the "good stuff" and it truly makes a difference! 🎉👩🍳🥰 Thanks again!
When I visited Italy, I was invited to a meal with a family. Apparently, there was a very small dog at the residence and he asked me if I liked dogs in Italian which is “Ti piache cane?” What I heard was “Ti piache carne”? I responded that I was not vegetarian. The horror and confusion on his face was amazing. Language mishaps are the greatest.
Fish not being considered meat goes back to rules the Catholic Church set up around Lent, when people were expected to refrain from eating meat. They could still have fish during the fasting period.
As they say, "the law was made, the deception was found": since it was forbidden to eat meat on the designated days, even aquatic birds and animals that lived near water such as beavers "magically" became fish (and therefore not prohibited...)
That rule flummoxed me as a child. I felt that since fish are living animals, they are meat. Also, it's weird to say you are atoning for sin, but still killing something. I think I was born a Buddhist.
Aha... you miss by about 2000 years :) The distinction used by the Catholic Church comes directly from the "Kosher" rules of Jewish "Halacha" (law). We have specific and distinct rules for what meat we can/can't eat, and for fish we're allowed/not-allowed to eat, and also on their method of killing the animal, and cooking it. Fish are not considered "meat" but rather a category of their own. I could elaborate here, but only if you want... Anyways Jesus (when alive) followed these distinction, and also his followers, who brought it into Christianity.
It always make me smile when I hear an Italian word that is almost the same as in our Polish language. In Italy you call it polpette and in Poland we call it pulpety. That same goes for tomatoes. You call them pomodoro and we call them pomidory :D
I love to see Eva forgetting how to speak in english anytime she stays at home for a long period....it happens to me everytime i go home. Thank you for teaching our amazing cuisine abroad!
Evidently in America they are called “meatballs” because perhaps there will only be those with meat. In Italy they are called “Polpette” to indicate something in general, given that there are various types and not just those with meat.
Then obviously you can specify based on what is used to make the Polpette. If they are made with meat, then they can be called “Polpette di Carne” (Polpette of meat). If they are made with something else, the name of the other ingredient is usually added. As for example we saw here in the video, “Polpette di Melanzane”, “Polpette di Ricotta/Formaggio”, “Polpette di Tonno” (aubergine polpette, cheese polpette, tuna polpette), etc.
You're right, in Italy this definition/distinction is used. As a vegetarian, however, I have to say it: fish are made of meat and blood, internal organs similar to all other animals considered ''meat''...even the octopus has three hearts! However, those who eat fish define themselves as 'pescatarian' (non-vegetarian) and therefore it's fine anyway🤗🐬🐟🐙💙💙💙💙💙
In Spanish we say albóndiga (ahl-BOHN-dee-gah) and it also doesn't mean a ball made with meat, it just mean food in ball shape, however, 98% of the time if someone offers you meatballs you assume they're the meat kind. You have to specify the kind in case they aren't meat ones, like "albóndiga de berenjena" (eggplant meatball).
we sicilians make them too here are variations i've made polpete di zucchini, polpete di pane e polpete di riso all are pretty amazing im pretty sure they can be made with any vegetable maybe even mushrooms, sky is the limit
I was wondering if I could substitute pumpkin, squash, or something else edible for the eggplant. And hadn't thought of mushrooms... that sounds amazing.
As an Italian living in a mostly vegetarian family, we always eat store-bought vegetable balls and patties, fake meat balls and patties, falafels, or we make homemade chickpea falafels. They're great, but we should've thought of making some kind of homemade Italian veggieballs like these to switch it up, I'll definitely have to try the eggplant and the ricotta ones, they seemed delicious. Thanks for the video! I'd love to see more great Italian recipes that happen to be vegetarian. I know we're lucky to have a lot of them out there, but it's always nice to discover more regional ones that we might not know of.
As a pescatarian/vegetarian I really loved your video today but I love ALL your videos. They are the best hearted and best spirited in the sense of good humor and really loving your subject and each other. They make me happy to watch. I’m not arguing with Eva about any kind of food. She has a special relationship with food as a thing of great importance and knows secrets about it. Maybe it’s an Italian thing. I have a sister-in-law who’s the best cook I ever knew and she was born in Italy.
My mother-in-law, whose family was from Calabria, used to make the eggplant polpetta but without the eggplant. She called them bread patties and made them every time she made anything breaded. She used the leftover breadcrumbs and eggs and added pecorino romano to make them. This was especially on Christmas Eve when there was a lot of breading going on. There was greater anticipation for the bread patties than there were for the fish.
In the Deep South when slaves breaded and fried food on the estates, they rolled the dough off their hands in balls and fried them. These they threw to the, hungry and barking, dogs, as they carried food to the main house from the cook house. They were called “hushpuppies”
In Catania (Sicily) we do these breadcrumbs, egg and cheese polpette, it is a good old grandma recipe. We call them "pisci d'ovu" and my 3 years old son love them!
@@bumblebee898 GOD bless you, my Lady, your children and theirs. Teach, carefully, love enthusiastically, and know KNOW that undoubtedly you are the BEST HUMAN ON EARTH. You’re 70% there, just don’t lay down the yoke it’ll get to be a daily pleasure and reason to persevere🫀🫁🫵💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾👩🏾🦱!🦐🦞🦀🐢🐈🕊️🦢
In Spanish we use the word "albóndiga" to define the dish has a shape (which is almost always a ball). On the other hand, at least in Latin America, we use the word "carne" (meat) primarily to define the tissue of raised animals (beef, pig, goat, etc.). We call chicken, fish or game directly that way. Obviously we recognize that a piece of chicken "has meat", we just like to use the word to address certain animals but it is very common for supermarkets to make a distinction: meat, chicken and fish.
Does köfte mean ball in general or is it specifically a ball one eats? I am curious because, first I love etymology of words, and second - in my language we use the same word, but we took it directly from Turkish, and I don't know any other word for köfte in Bulgarian ( my language). Thanks!
between Italian and English, the definition of meat is different. In the English language meat is considered edible food of animal origin, while in Italian meat (carne) is understood as a warm-blooded animal, therefore all animals such as fish, insects and reptiles are excluded.
I think the distinction exists more broadly. Look at a cookbook’s table of contents: there are often separate sections for meat and poultry, or if they are combined, the section is titled “meat and poultry” (if meat included poultry, they’d just call the section “meat” and throw the poultry and seafood in there anyway without expanding the title).
In fact, in Italian "carne" does not even refer to edible or in any way butchered or prepared stuff. "Carne" means both meat and flesh. Our way of saying that goes "né carne, né pesce", (neither meat nor fish) corresponds to the English "neither fish nor flesh".
This doesn't quite make sense to me. Edible food (redundant?) of animal origin would include things like eggs, milk, and honey, but I've never heard these referred to as meat.
In Rome too we make polpette di melanzane in quite the same way! The tuna ones: it's more common to have that in the form of a polpettone which someone call salame di tonno. The ricotta ones I make with fresh white bread instead of breadcrumbs and either cook them and eat them in vegetable broth or sauté them in a pan with olive oil and sage. But they would be heavenly even in tomato sauce. Eva, il pesce è carne, ma lo dico da vegetariana: io sono fatto di carne, la mucca è fatta di carne, il tacchino è fatto di carne e il pesce (ma pure il calamaro o il gambero o la rana o oa cavalletta!) è fatto di carne. Nel piatto ci finisce la carne. Poi, possiamo dire che in italiano si usano due parole diverse per indicare dei "cibi" ma la sostanza a cui credo Harper si riferisse è che...se respirava e più o meno si muoveva è carne. Bisognerebbe dire magari "carne di", sarebbe più corretto 🤷🏻♀️.
It seems like you both challenge my notions of what an ingredient tastes like--so much so that despite HATING tuna fish (Chicken of the Sea and Starkist is what I grew up with), I want to try your version! What picture perfect specimens of 'meatballs' you create, and what a beautiful setting. Thanks for sharing Calabria with us, one meal at a time.
Complimenti per le ricette e la vostra simpatia 😊. Volevo solo dire che dalle mie parti(costa jonica-reggina), nelle"brasciole" di melanzane, al posto del prezzemolo, viene messo abbondante basilico; le melanzane tendenzialmente sono ortaggi estivi 😊...
I’ve always heard “fritter” to describe a dessert food (but otherwise similar to Eva’s polpette)-things like apple fritters. Do west Virginians have savoury fritters?
@jpp7783 Yes, we have corn fritters, zuccini, tomato, pretty much anything using cornmeal or bread crumbs with egg, then patties oushallow fried. We have sweet ones too.
@@jpp7783the origin of the word fritter comes from the word to fry, so basically anything coated in batter or crumbed then fried can be a fritter. We have spam fritters in the UK.
My Mom was born and raised in Italy,came to America at age 19,they couldn’t afford meat so their meatballs were the bread crumb and cheese mixture same as we use to stuff our braciole at Christmas time
Fish isn't considered meat beacuse they're cold blooded. But if you define meat as flesh of any animal, then fish is obviously meat. If I had to pick one of the balls it would be the ricotta one.
To answer Eva! I'm from Naples and my grandma always made eggplant meatballs, with the exact same recipe she used! I don't think she had any calabrian influence in her recipes (she was the kind of woman that pretty much only cooked traditional neapolitan food) but she was literally an eggplant fiend so it's possible that she made an exception for that ahahah Anyway, I've had them since I was a child and many in my family still make them, but here you don't find eggplant meatballs easily in restaurants. Still a bit of a mystery, maybe!
Agree with Eva re the word meatball. In the UK we have a Christmas treat that is call mincemeat pie, individual pies which do not have any meat in them. 😳😳😳Only dried fruit, candied peal, maybe nuts - lovely warm with brandy butter or cream. Yum!! Oh! You can add some brandy to the filling if liked. Double yum!!!😊😊😊😊
Historically it had meat in it, but over time it got less meat and more fruit till how it is now, all fruit. The supermarkets are full of mince pies already in the UK. Haven't had any yet, but they're delicious warm with thick cream 🤤
@@rachcampb yes that is where they get their name from - I think they are more delicious now than in the past. 😊😊😊😊 . My local Coop had them on the shelves before the children went back to school. Oh the temptation! 😱😱😱 I actually have all the ingredients to make them but am trying to wait until closer to Christmas. Always say I will make and freeze them in readiness but they are so lovely fresh out of the oven the freezing part never quite goes to plan. 🙄🙄🙄😂😂😂
@@yorgokarna6801 I nearly came a cropper over the beef suet when taking mince pies and Christmas puddings to friends in USA. Fortunately I checked on line what was or was not permitted in baked goods. It said that vegetarian suet was ok but not beef. So gift idea was saved. 😊😊😊😊
So judging by what Eva said about Italian rules have an exception, pineapple on pizza it is! LOL Love the video guys! I just wish parmegianno and pecorino are not so expensive!
Guys, your content is just unique and so much enjoyable. You make a great couple, your videos are very well done, well edited, and reach in content. As an Italian guy, I can also confirm that Eva is bringing you 100% the spirit and recipes of Italian homes, sei bravissima, grazie!
I love being vegan (not vegetarian!) in Italy… Italy’s famous cuisine was born from the “poor kitchen” so many, maaaany of their recipes are naturally vegan or vegetarian. It’s easy to eat here, I love it
I never miss an episode of your show, though I'm a vegan. Polpette and veggie burgers are made from beans, lentils, vegetables, and breadcrumbs. They have a Sicilian kick since that is my lineage. An eggplant pattie and meatballs are in the works here after this episode!!
I love this channel. I am not much of a meat eater for the sake of the animals and I am progressing on my journey to master Italian cooking. I grow 90% of my own food so I am always looking for a way to cook the bounty. Need I say more. You have the goods.
Fish is the meat of the fish which is an animal or whatever seafood in question, so yes Harper, I agree, fish is meat. Both cows and tuna are living breathing animals. Plants are plants, meat is meat. One woman's opinion of course. Anyway, I have made eggplant polpetta (is that correct?) and love it. You inspire me to make it again. Thanks for the recipe.
Never had Italian eggplants, but I recently moved to the US from Canada and got eggplants from Trader Joes and they were the most tasteless eggplants I’ve ever had and it was like 80% seeds (I was practically crunching on seeds while eating the dish I made, it was so absurd.) I immediately thought of Eva’s comments from a previous eggplant video. I think this is just an American thing ‘cause I’ve never once had this problem in Canada. But I do eat eggplants a lot so I found a place here that has good ones (my local Middle Eastern store 😜).
Eggplants cannot be ordered. You should select them manually. a "rule of thumb" for choosing eggplants (it's true for most variants of eggplants). The most important thing: The eggplant must be light. It should weigh like nothing. Like you raise a foam of some kind. When eggplant ripens - it grows the seeds which make it heavy, and also brings in more water into its flesh. These waters are also bitter, in addition to the seeds being nasty to eat, and almost impossible to remove. So - select lighest eggplants you can. Of course a small eggplant is lighter than a big one - but that's not what I mean. Compare similarly sized eggplants for weight - choose the lighter. Next, the skin. Choose those who are young - they have shinier skin, without wrinkles, and hard to touch. If the eggplant is soft, or has wrinkles, or loses its shine - it is old, and more bitter. Also - the color. There are different kinds of eggplants with different colors, and also the time they're picked also stops the development of their colors. Try to choose "purplish" or "grayish" rather than "deep black" ones. That's all I can say without knowing the American variety of eggplants - but it can help.
You guys are the best!!!!!! Have you ever tried roasting the eggplant instead of boiling? That way you will reduce the moisture and impart a little more dearth of flavor. Just a thought. If you do try it I would love to know what you think!!!
Like in Italian, the word for meatball in Spanish is albóndiga, as in the word "meat" is not included in the word. In both cases, the name refers to the shape rather than the ingredients. The word meatball means a type of ball, which happens to be made of meat, but it doesn't have to be. 😊
The meat vs fish argument was so funny because I study philosophy of language and so, indulge me in being a nerd for a moment: you're using the word in two different ways, because of the ambivalency of it (probably because your your own first languagues). "Carne" (meat) is generally used by italian referencing to food, specifically to differenciate it from fish or vegetables (each has different properties and "abbinamenti"). The way Harper is using the word meat (in the english way), however, is has a completely different meaning, it also applies to fish or humans, i'd say it's closer to the connotation of "flesh". Basically he's using the term biologically, not "culinarly". In italian we'd never call fish meat "carne di pesce" because it sounds like a contradiction, like saying the apple meat, we'd probably say something like la polpa(?) del pesce, because we don't have a 1 to 1 corresponding word for flesh, altho sometimes in literature you might find expressions like "le sue carni" (his flesh) but it's not how we use the world normally, I hope this clarifies!! :)
I was expecting the ricotta balls to fall apart in the liquid. It's interesting that they didn't. I'm considering trying them but deep-frying instead. I'll try it both ways. I am so much eggplant for my garden and that I didn't know what to do with so I'm definitely making those. I'm somewhat iffy on the tuna ones.🤔
I have probably mentioned this in a previous meatball video comment, but if you can find an aluminum "cake ball" pan (from back when the "cake ball" fad still had steam), it works great for pre-cooking eggy meatballs without flattening one side. You can bake/roast at high heat to get some oven browning on actual meaty meatballs, or you can go at a low temperature to get the eggs to set without adding color. Then you can transfer to a pan for browning or simmering.
2:54 MEGA PRO TIP!!!! Indian and South Asian stores is where you'll find a ton of eggplant varieties. Man Pasand in Texas (surely there's more) has between 4 and 6 types, depending on the season
When I cooked at a German restaurant, we had two “balls”; one was cooked ham and frozen cheddar placed through a circular chopper, balled up and fried. The other was an oyster “roll” that was made with shucked oysters, homemade herbed “crackers” and milk. Deep fried: you mashed down to expose the inside and placed a pat of butte to melt. I HAVE seen people add our fresh ground horseradish
I'm noticing lately there are some split seconds while Eva talks where she absolutely has the cadence of a native English speaker, and it's so surprising because it's just gently and seamlessly peppered in now occasionally, like seasoning! I hope Harper has been perfecting his Italian in Dasà, too. Infatti, he should try doing an all Italian language video as a little challenge to check his progress. 😊
I think any flesh from an animal is “meat” but in usage, pork is pork, fish is fish, chicken is chicken and meat is beef, works the same in Spanish, carne is only use for “red meats”, beef.
in my family we make eggplant veggieballs and we are not calabrian so you can find them in other parts of italy, but we make a little variation: we put a little cube of cheese inside so the ball will have a melty heart
Can I just comment that your content is so very nice! Fun, educational and uplifting. It’s hard to find such a thing these days on social media. Keep up the good work. Bueno lavoro! (Hope that is correct!)❤
The meat/fish thing is religious. The Catholics and Orthodox make a strong distinction between them for the purposes of fasting. (The collective consumption of "meat" was often associated with pagan rituals. Fish tended to free of that stigma.) When England was officially Catholic the difference would have seemed more obvious, but it's much less so today, with even Catholics placing less of an emphasis on fasting.
They are all so delicious; it’s like picking one’s favorite child. One of my favorite meatballs is with minced pork in bianco, at room temperature. Just grab one and pop in the mouth. It is a standard for Carnevale. Thank you.
Oh my… these sound wonderful! The tuna polpette would be great for fish Friday’s Lenten meatless meals. I’m interested in trying the eggplant polpette. I love eggplant. The cheese ones I know I’ll love, as they are cheese, and cheese is king. Yum! Fish not being “meat” is from a Roman Catholic perspective.
I mean Americans call anything fish in a patty a cake… like crab cake shrimp cake fish cake especially if it’s grounded up. Preparation and how’s it’s cook determines what it’s called… but I feel like anything you roll into a ball that isn’t deep fried but seared and then stewed in a sauce is a”meatball” Eva is a goddess. Harper you turn to cook!
I tryed the one with eggplants today. I had to take an other cheese. My family liked it, but not so much as my special meatballs. And I agree Eva: you need good ingredients to make a good food.
Hey! Complimenti per il video! Avevo voglia di specificare che le polpette di melanzane si fanno anche in Salento, con la menta! Io le melanzane preferisco sempre farle al forno, mia personale opinione, nell'acqua secondo me si disperde sempre un po' il sapore, e rende necessaria una maggiore quantità di pangrattato! Siete i migliori e vi seguo sempre! ❤
Love all your videos, siete simpaticissimi. What I would say is polpette is a preparation, that’s why Eva doesn’t associate them to meat. The correct translation for meatballs would be polpette di carne. So you have polpette of … several different ingredients. In my Calabrian family we make so many different varieties that most time we specify which we are going to serve. It is true however that if you don’t specify most people will assume the ones made of meat. By the way from your video I’d agree with Eva. They all look amazing but if forced to chose I’d pick eggplant polpette every time 😊
In Spanish we use the word "albóndiga" which comes from a 15th century Arabic word "albunduqah" that was related to an ancient Greek expression and referred to a hazelnut. (Google translate)
i'm less and less thinking of veggie/vegan as something different. when we used to talk about 'meatballs' it could be beef, pork, chicken. In the vegan world this can be soy for instance. a while ago i decided to change my criteria from based on ingredients to based on taste. To give an example. I was always a meat lover but some days ago i had a vegan vol au vent for lunch. the chicken strips looked like chicken, the structure was pretty similar it just had a slightly different taste but once I let go of the idea that it had to taste like chicken i realised it was actually delicious. not the dish i had known for many years but taste wise it was on exactly the same level as the original one.
Like Nona Gina says on her channel about cheese, "The more you put, the more you find. Some people want more, you put more". Thank you for these recipes! I have beautiful Rosa Bianca eggplant from the garden right now.
Try zucchini balls, they're even better than eggplants! Use light green zucchini ( in Italy we call them white zucchini), and follow the eggplants balls receipe. You could also mix. Actually you could mix with ricotta also, polpette are such a huge variety! To me the best are Polpette in bianco, that is meatballs cooked without tomato sauce, because the sauce tend to "boil" them a bit even if you fry them first. And I also add some bread soaked in milk and some boiled potatos to the meat (together with the other ingredients). But this is my taste.
Eggplants polpette are sicilian too from minimum hundred years, who knows if they and other vegetarian excellent recipes are born there or where in Sicilia o Calabria or elsewhere in Italia? Needed a research, for sure the southern Italy has a very complete and great cooking and creativity tradition, expecially with land and sea products. Thanks ti the immense patience and intelligence of italian mid and low class women of the pasta centuries. Different was the high society and rich cooking.
I have to agree and also technically disagree with Harper about "meat". Firstly, these recipes are AMAZING and we will try all of them. When it comes to the term 'meat' I think it's used to describe more texture than origin. "The meat of a jackfruit", the meaty/fleshy part of...... Still, none of that detracts from the fact that they create amazingly "meaty" meals. LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your recipes and your travel adventures too.
Thanks for the recipes! There can't be a vegetarian meatball though. You can call them fishballs, cheeseballs etc. My favourite are zucchiniballs. Greetings from Greece!
First time commenting. First, there is meat, fish and fowl. Meat is from mammals. Fish is from the creatures of the sea and rivers (that are not mammals). Fowl is from birds. I am not sure about reptiles, but as they are not mammals I do not consider them meat. Perhaps my understanding is because my grandfather is from Italy. Next I was very grateful to see this. A few years ago a tic bit me and now I can not eat the flesh of mammals. Doing so will put me in hospital. Love your show. Thanks
My mum has always made them the same except with basil & garlic added.sometimes we add mashed potato & form them into oval shaped patties.pan fry them in oil.& eat them like that.& sometimes we pan fry them to seal them, then put them in a baking dish & pour some tomato sauce over them & bake them in the oven.& another way is to cut them in half scoop out the eggplant & reserve the skin then stuff then with the same ingredients.& also bake in the oven the same way.
Anybody else notice what Harper actually did... a challenge with one clear winner: Harper! So many delicious polpette to compare. Well played, well played indeed! 😂
In Italia si dice ‘ne’ carne né pesce,’ when something is neither here nor there. So, within the language there is a distinction between fish and other animals’ flesh. It’s just a linguistic distinction. Substitute the word meat with flesh and it’ll fit all animals and even some vegetables. Ciao!
@PastaGrammar - Can you ask Eva if coating the ricotta meatball in breadcrumbs and frying is a thing? I am planning to make them and thought about serving them both ways. Also can you ask her if they ever get served with sauce? Thank you for all of the delicious recipes. Made your Carbonara last week and it was a hit for my dad’s birthday. 🎉❤
Finally 💚💚💚💚 I was always hoping to see more vegetarian/vegan recipies. Please cook more vegetarian plates. Maybe you could cook one meat and one vegetarian per episode? 🥰🥰🥰🥰 just to be fair. 🌱🌱🌱🌱😘😘😘😘
It's really good to see substitutes that aren't based on legumes - I've proved that legumes trigger excruciating migraines for me. I'd definitely eat the ricotta and eggplant versions. As I'm allergic to fish, I'll skip the tuna.
A note for vegetarians: be careful about the parmesan. The traditional parmesan contains rennet from cows/goats and the animal is usually killed in the process. More modern stuff however gets the rennet from microbes
I love the looks of these recipes as a pescatarian myself. I thought I would omit the anchovies but after Harper's comment, maybe I won't. Thanks, guys.
RE: “fish is meat”…. in the US too (pre 1980s) we were taught that seafood/fish was separate from “meat” - two different food groups. It’s only been more recent that they have been lumped into the same group… vs. seafood & land Animal meat.
In English "meat" used to mean food, especially solid food as opposed to drink. It's still used that way in phrases like "one man's meat is another man's poison".
Is there any place in Italy that makes desert polpette? Make a sweetened dough, add raisins, currants, candied fruit, maybe sweet ricotta, then boil it or fry it? Or maybe stuff a small piece of dough with some fruit (apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots) sugar and spices, boil it and drizzle with cream or custard..
