The Great Meatball Test

Some of my favorite summer memories take me back to a friend’s family home in Woodstock, New York. It was a rather large house, and the family was rather large, too. A big Italian family, with multiple kitchens and enough cooks to make every room smell like something wonderful was happening.

When a group of us came to hang out for the summer, the cooking was already underway. My friend’s mom, his Nonna, and his aunts would all be busy in their kitchens. I don’t know how they coordinated it. Maybe they had a system. Maybe they didn’t need one. In a family like that, the recipes—and the opinions—probably traveled from kitchen to kitchen on their own.

And then, sooner or later, the meatballs would appear.

Not just one batch of meatballs. There were meatballs to taste, compare, and discuss. Because this was a serious matter. His mom had made meatballs. Nonna had made meatballs. The aunts had made meatballs. And somehow, a group of summer guests had been appointed to determine whose were the best.

We accepted the responsibility with the proper amount of solemnity. We tasted each one carefully. We considered the sauce, the seasoning, the texture. Or at least we gave the impression of thoughtful culinary judgment while happily eating our way through plate after plate.

“Which one do you like best?” was a dangerous question. Every meatball came with history, pride, and probably a recipe that had been in the family for years. You couldn’t just blurt out an answer. You had to think. You had to taste again. You had to make absolutely certain.

It was exhausting work, being a young person in a house with multiple kitchens and a family determined to feed you.

I honestly don’t remember who won the great meatball contest. Maybe there wasn’t a winner. Maybe the true winner was whoever got to go back for seconds without having to cast another vote. What I do remember is the warmth of that house, the bustle of all those kitchens, and the feeling of being folded into a big, generous family for the afternoon.

Also, I learned that when someone asks you to test the meatballs, the correct answer is apparently, “I’ll need another sample before I can make a fair decision.”

Some duties are simply too important to rush. 😂