Written by History of Meatloaf and Meatballs 
About meatloaf, meatballs and related ground meat products. Who invented meatloaf, why & when? Good question! Food historians tell us from Ancient times to present cooks have been mixing ground meat with minced bread/rice/vegetables, spices, thickeners and serving them with sauce. For what reasons?
1. To distribute meat to more people (protein economy)
2. To conserve resources (use it up, don’t throw it out)
3. To make tough meat more palatable (aid digestion)
Early ground (finely chopped or minced) molded meat recipes concentrated on sausages in skin casings, meat fritters (similar to meatballs), rissoles, hashes, terrines, and croquettes. The meat employed in these early recipes was usually already cooked, as opposed to the raw meat typically used by Americans to make meat loaf today. Finished products were typically fried, stewed, or baked (in molds or pastry) and served with sauce. Meatballs (a diminutive form of meatloaf) are known in many cultures and cuisines. Recipes evolved according to local ingredients and tastes. Middle Eastern kofta and Swedish meatballs are two of the most well known.
Some of the earliest recorded ground meat recipes are found in Apicius, written in Ancient Rome. Book II is devoted to “minces.”
Ancient Roman meat balls
“Suffed Meat Patties (Apicius 48)
Esicia omentata: pulpam cincisam teres cum medulla siliginei in vino infusi. Piper, liquamen, si velis, et bacam mirteam extenteratum simul sonteres.
Pusilla esicia formabis, intus nucleis et pipere positis. Involuta omento subassabis cum careno.
“Ground meat patties in *omentum: Grind chopped meat with the center of fine white bread that has been soaked in wine. Grind together pepper, garum, and pitted myrtle berries if desired. Form small patties, putting in pine nuts and pepper. Wrap in omentum and cook slowly in *caroenum.
“Within the section dedicated to recipes with ground meat, the Apician manual includes this curious rating: “The ground meat patties of peacock have first place, if they are fried so that they remain tender. Those of pheasant have second place, those of rabbit third, those of chicken fourth, and those of suckling pig fifth.” (Apicius 54).”
—A Taste of Ancient Rome, Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa, translated by Anna Herklotz, forward by Mary Taylor Simeti [University of Chicago Press:Chicago] 1992 (p. 89-90)
*NOTE: *omentum means pork caul fat; *caroenum means reduced wine.
American History of Meatloaf
By Dana Jacobi
Food history is full of surprises. The history of an American staple, for example – meatloaf – offers more than a trip down culinary lane. It provides a glimpse into how advances in technology have shaped the way we eat and prepare food today. I was intrigued to discover that my grandmother’s hand-cranked grinder, the kind that attaches to the edge of a table, was key to meatloaf becoming an everyday dish. Cooks relied on it, particularly in the early half of the 20th century, until butcher shops installed refrigeration units that were able to reliably store more perishable chopped meat. In fact, when my mother bought chopped meat at the butcher – well into the 1960s – she made him grind it in front of her so she was sure that he used a clean machine and that he gave her the lean ground round she asked for.
Early meatloaf recipes called for veal, which was less expensive than beef at the time. The meat in one widely published version was first cooked then chopped, blended with other ingredients, molded, then cooked again into a loaf. Recipes indicate that meatloaf as we know it today – blended with bread or cracker crumbs, egg and seasonings, then baked in a rectangular pan – gradually became popular between 1900 and the 1920s. Among the most popular early recipes were several created by the Quaker Oats Company using their product as binder in place of breadcrumbs. Binder is an essential meatloaf ingredient because it creates an even, smooth texture. In addition to whole-wheat breadcrumbs, oats or even cooked rice, it can include a generous amount of finely shredded or chopped cooked vegetables like spinach, carrots or the broccoli used in this recipe. Nutritionally smart, the vegetables help keep a meatloaf nicely moist.
