Köttbullar are the everyday pride of Swedish home cooking, the dish of school lunches, Sunday dinners and the Christmas table alike. Small, soft meatballs of beef and pork, bound with breadcrumbs soaked in milk, are browned in butter and served with a light brown cream gravy, mashed or boiled potatoes, pressed cucumber and a spoonful of lingonberry jam. The sharp red berries against the rich gravy are the whole idea: sweet, sour and savory on one fork.

Every Swedish family considers its own grandmother's version the correct one. Ours keeps to the classic proportions, and the only skill required is rolling a great many small balls, which goes faster with company. They suit a race at Anderstorp, the airfield circuit in Småland that hosted the Swedish Grand Prix in the 1970s, or any race that needs a table of hungry people kept happy.

The pressed cucumber

Ingredients

• 1 English cucumber
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
• 3 tablespoons (40 g) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley or dill

Method

1. Whisk the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a bowl until dissolved. Add the cucumber and parsley, stir, and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

The meatballs

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (30 g) fine dry breadcrumbs or panko
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
• 1 lb (450 g) ground meat, half beef and half pork
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white or black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil

Method

1. Stir the breadcrumbs into the milk in the large bowl and leave for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the onion in 1/2 tablespoon of the butter in the skillet over medium low heat for 4 minutes, then let it cool.
2. Add the meat, egg, onion, salt, pepper and allspice to the crumbs. Mix with your hand for about 1 minute until evenly combined.
3. With wet hands, roll the mixture into balls about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across, roughly a heaped tablespoon each, and set them on the lined tray.
4. Heat the oil and the rest of the butter in the skillet over medium heat until the butter foams. Fry the meatballs in batches, shaking the pan or turning them often, for 8 to 10 minutes per batch. Move them to a plate. Keep the brown bits in the pan for the gravy.

The cream gravy

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) beef stock
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon lingonberry jam or red currant jelly
• 1 pinch fine salt and pepper

Method

1. Melt the butter in the meatball pan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking, for 1 minute.
2. Whisk in the stock a little at a time, scraping up the brown bits, then the cream, soy sauce and jam. Simmer, whisking, for 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Return the meatballs to the pan and turn them in the gravy over low heat for 2 minutes.

The mashed potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 lb (900 g) floury potatoes
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) hot whole milk
• 3 tablespoons (45 g) butter
• 1 teaspoon fine salt

Method

1. While you roll the meatballs, cover the potatoes with cold salted water, bring to a boil and simmer 15 to 20 minutes until very tender. Drain, mash, then beat in the hot milk, butter and salt.

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