Are Swedish Meatballs Even Swedish?

It’s hard to send an entire country into an identity crisis, but one single Tweet managed to do just that—and all under 150 characters. When Sweden’s official Twitter account claimed that Swedish meatballs may in fact actually be Turkish, Swedes around the world were set into outrage. How could such a beloved touchstone of Swedish cultural history all be a sham? To get to the bottom of it all, we enlisted the help of an expert. Come along as we try to unlock the great meatball mystery.

#Meatballs #Swedish #Turkey

This story is a part of our Flavors series, where we do so much more than play with our food. Come with us as we dive into deliciously different and tastefully off-beat stories in the culinary world.

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[CanadianDan]

IKEA would like to know your location.

[asianaxeprincess]

" what comes to mind when you think of sweden? "


Pewdiepie.

[fishlipmutilator]

"if there is one thing we can agree on its that meatballs are delicious"
Vegans: *intense internal combustion*

[bsarioz]

I'm from Turkey, and there are many varieties of Turkish meatballs.
IKEA meatballs are not similar to any particular variety in Turkey.
Yes, it's similar, but it's just inspired.

[emmal]

Every single culture in the entire world has made their own idea of "Ball of meat", jesus.

[sarnav]

Not "Koftas" but "Köfte" :) Meatball is delicious, just enjoy it wherever you are.

[samuel]

When you think of sweden, what comes to mind. Pewdiepie that what i'm thinking

[svtet]

They didn’t talk about Pewdiepie when it came to famous Swedish stuff....

[sayakdas]

When I think about Sweden, I remember Avicii. Rest in peace, Sir.

[flingan]

As a Swede, I know that our Swedish meatballs are very well known, but I know that there are so many different variations of the meatballs in other countries and we were not the first with them 😀 You take what you like and make your own thing out of it. That's how we learn about things. It's fun when you can make different variations of it. for example, use different meats and flavors.

[jordanleng]

I should have known A Great Big Story would post this video

[opaulodetarso]

It's a very common food in Brazilian northeastern backwoods. My mother in law loves to cook this plate.

[kellash]

When you said “If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that meatballs are delicious”, you just pissed off so many vegans

[nmiecok]

I've learned so much swedish in IKEA but Köttbullar (meatball) was the first thing i learned

[emca]

When your too tired to smile at group pictures 1:04

[Teku]

im from sweden and what i think about when i hear sweden is...
OH GOD T-SERIES IS WINNING HELP US.

[denizbluemusic]

I am Turkish and the only thing köfte and swedish meatballs have in common is they are both meatballs.

[jerof]

0:00 “ when you think of sweeden what comes to mind?”

BLACK METAL

[teamblack]

I am Turkish and I had no idea about the origin of Swedish meatballs. However, even if it was originally a Turkish food, the recipe remarkably has changed. So it makes sense why it doesn't count as a Turkish recipe anymore.

[NataliaPrasetionekoneko]

Folks try meatball in Indonesia, it is called Bakso and interesting!