Frikadeller are flat, pan-fried meatballs made of mixed minced meat. They have often been considered a national dish in Denmark, but they are also very popular in the rest of Europe, where most countries have their own version of the dish.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines frikadelle or fricadelle as a “quasi-French form of fricandeau”. The origin of the word is uncertain, but could be a Germanization of the Italian frittatella, which is fried or roasted (fritto) meat. It could also be related to the French word fricasse, which in 1611 was defined by Cotgrave in an English lexicon as anything that was being fried on a frying pan. The word meatball is often being used as a generic term. However, in the Danish cuisine the distinction is made between meatballs that have been boiled, and meatballs that have been fried. The fried ones are the ones referred to as frikadeller.
In Denmark, a simple recipe consists of minced pork and ground beef, flour, milk, eggs, as well as chopped onions and spices (salt and pepper), but there are countless varieties. Different versions exist all over the world, including Europe, the Middle East, and several places in Asia and Africa. Through the Dutch colonial influence, frikadeller is also known in the Indonesian cuisine as perkedel – however, these are made out of minced meat mixed with mashed potatoes, and are thus a distant cousin to the frikadelle. Dutch cuisine has also influenced another version in Sri Lanka. In Germany they are known as Frikadellen, Buletten, Fleischkuhlen or Felischplanzerl; in Austria they are known as Faschierte Laibchen. Other fried versions from around the world include kjøtfrikadellur from the Faroe Islands, which are made of ground beef. The Greek version is normally deep-fried, or at least fried in oil, and made from mutton or beef and contain garlic.
The history of the dish goes a long way back and the first information about it can be found around two thousand years ago in the Roman Empire. More specifically, it was attributed to Apicius, a Roman gastronome, who wrote about it in a cookbook. It was later mentioned in Arabic cookbooks from Andalusia in Spain around the year 1200, where the term kebab was used. From here, the custom and recipe spread to the rest of the world as Köfte (the Middle East/Greece), cevapcici (the Balkans), kötbullar (Sweden), polpetti (Italy), pulpety or klopsy (Poland), bitok (Russia), rissole (England), klopse (Germany), croquette (France) or just meatballs, as they are called by the Americans. In today’s Spain, they are known as albondigas. In Denmark, the fried meatball was mentioned for the first time in a cookbook from 1850, but it was made from lamb or beef. In spite of its long history, not everyone used to have access to this delicacy a few centuries back. Minced meat was difficult to keep in a private household due to the limited possibility of conservation. In addition, the act of chopping the meat was a time-consuming procedure – at least until industrialization, when the mincing machine was introduced.
Having survived for centuries, the frikadelle will likely evolve and survive for centuries to come, given its simple combination of ingredients and taste that pleases the people all over the world.
Written by Kathrine Moustgaard
Translation Trainee, DG TRAD DA Unit
Sources and further reading:
- https://www.information.dk/moti/2013/08/frikadellehttp:/
- https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/danmark/k%C3%A6r-ret-har-mange-navnehttp:/
- https://denstoredanske.dk/Mad_og_bolig/Gastronomi/K%C3%B8d_(inkl._vildt)/frikadellehttp:/
- https://www.madkultur.dk/2007/01/frikadeller-roedkaal-brun-sovs/http:/
- https://www.immigrantmuseet.dk/index.php?page=frikadellen—p-tv-rs-af-madkulturer