Konigsberger Meatballs – Authentic German

Konigsberger Meatballs are, as the name says, from the city of Königsberg of former East Prussia that is now Russia and its name is since 1946 Kaliningrad.

Some History
The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussian settlement Twangste by the Teutonic Knights during the Baltic Crusades. It was named iafter King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who led a campaign against the pagan Old Prussians, a Baltic tribe.  During the time Königsberg developed into an important German intellectual and cultural center. It was the easternmost large city in Germany until World War II.

Between the wars, it was in the exclave of East Prussia, separated from Germany by the Polish Corridor. The city was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1944 and during the Battle of Königsberg in 1945, when it was occupied by the Russian Red Army. It was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946, in honor of Soviet Communist functionary Mikhail Kalinin. The city’s historic centre was subsequently demolished by the Soviet government.

The Recipe
The recipe is about 200 years old. and is one of the highlights of historical East Prussian cuisine. In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the dish was officially called Kochklopse (“boiled meatballs”) to avoid mentioning the name of the former city.
The meatballs or in German “Klopse” are served in a white gravy with capers, and are made out of ground meat such as from veal, beef or pork. Some add also anchovy paste. If you don’t like the capers, you would just not use them.
The meatballs must  be cooked in a broth (some add vinegar and white wine to the broth too). Serve with side dishes such as boiled potatoes, rice and pickled red beets. Happy Cooking!

Ingredients Konigsberger Meatballs

200g ground beef
200g ground pork
1 roll
2 eggs
2 tbsp bread crumbs (all natural, no spices)
1 medium size onion
salt, pepper to taste

Broth for Boiling the Meatballs
1 liter beef broth (clear) instant or homemade  – How to make German Beef Broth –
salt, 1 onion, 1 bay leave, 3 pimento corns, 3 pepper corns

For the Gravy
3 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice,
0,38 liter broth, 1/8 liter heavy cream, capers, 1 egg yolk, salt, pepper, parsley

Cooking Instructions Konigsberger Meatballs

Meatballs:
– Chop onion finely, soak roll in water. When soaked press all water out of the roll before you add it to the meat in small pieces.
– Mix meat with onions, eggs, salt, pepper and roll until you get a smooth meat dough.
– Add the bread crumbs.
– Form meatballs, not too big and not too small (diameter about 2 inches)

Broth:
– Make the broth from scratch or use organic instant broth.
– Add chopped onion and spices to the broth.
– Heat the broth and add more salt if needed.
– Place the meat balls into the broth and let them cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove laurel leave, pepper and pigment corns; let meat balls in the broth for another 10 minutes.
– Remove with a slotted spoon from broth, and keep warm.

Sauce
– Heat butter and add flour while stirring, it should not get brown.
– Add broth, continue stirring until the liquid is combined with the flour and gets thick. Add drained capers and heavy cream.
– Add lemon juice, salt, pepper to taste.
– Don’t bring the sauce to a boil anymore, have heat reduced to the lowest temperature.
– Mix in egg yolk, then place meatballs into the sauce.

Serve with boiled potatoes or white rice. Decorate it with some parsley leaves.