Hot Spicy Meat Balls-- 1956

From the book "Sunday Night Suppers" 1956

I decided to make these for a party, seeing how they seemed edible enough that people wouldn't shun them and I had just bought a chafing dish that I wanted to try out. The recipe is pretty easy and straightforward and meatball-like. The main historic lesson we can learn from this recipe, however, is how the hands of time have changed the definition of "Hot" and "spicy."

As my cousin was eating some meatballs, he asked "what are these again?" I replied "Hot Spicy Meat Balls." He nodded and said "I don't know if I would say 'hot' or 'spicy' as much as I would say 'ketchuppy.'" And that's really the thing: They are not, in any way, shape or form, either "hot" or "spicy" by the standards of the citizens of today. In fact, if we look at the recipe for the elements of heat and spice in our "hot sauce," this is what we find:

God forbid you accidentally add a fourth grain of cayenne pepper...it would be like eating lava. A mushroom cloud would erupt from your chafing dish. Better keep some water handy to put out this scorcher!

So, in conclusion, if I had to update this dish to be more contemporary, I'd say maybe throw in some BBQ sauce in place of some of the ketchup and maybe go completely nuts and add a few dashes of tabasco and a whole sprinkle of cayenne. It probably still won't be that hot or spicy, but it will at least taste like something more interesting than meatballs in ketchup.

Comments

[Flirty]

Love your serving dish! That at least should have helped make them taste a little better ;)

[Zinnia]

People should read this.