By Isla Quinn
Crack the crust. Steam comes out. Then the filling, thick and soft, tasting of meat stock, butter, nutmeg and onion. Wait a moment before the first bite. Everyone has burned their tongue once.
What it is
Wikipedia describes bitterballen (singular bitterbal) as a Dutch meat-based snack, usually served hot with mustard. The base is minced or chopped beef or veal, beef broth, butter, flour for thickening, parsley, salt and pepper, and typically onion and nutmeg. A thick stew thickened with a roux is chilled until firm, rolled into balls about 3 to 4 cm across, coated in breadcrumbs and egg, and deep-fried.
The Daily Meal, a food website, agrees on beef, sometimes veal, and adds carrots and onions, nutmeg and sometimes curry powder, with mustard as the usual dip. We note the difference: Wikipedia lists neither carrots nor curry. Both pages are describing the same snack in broad terms, and recipes plainly vary.
How a cook builds one
Coquinaria, a Dutch food-history blog, gives a sample recipe that shows the order of work. The cook chops cooked meat left from making stock, softens an onion and makes a roux of butter, flour and stock, then stirs in the meat with pepper, salt, mace, nutmeg and thyme. The ragout is cooled completely, then chilled or frozen, because cold ragout is easier to shape.
For the coating, the author breads in flour, then beaten egg, then crumbs from beschuit, the Dutch rusk, and chills the pieces for 30 minutes more. The blog’s rule of thumb is short: sauce plus stuffing is ragout, and ragout plus breading is kroket.
Bitterbal or kroket?
Wikipedia says the two are very similar in ingredients, preparation and flavour. The kroket is larger and oblong, shaped like a sausage, with a similar diameter. Coquinaria gives the sizes: sticks of about 10 by 3 cm or balls about 4 cm across.
Where the name comes from
Four of our sources agree that the word is “bitter” plus “bal”, and that the snack itself is not bitter. Wikipedia says the name comes from bitters, the herb-flavoured drinks the snack traditionally accompanies. I Am Expat, a magazine for the international community, and Coquinaria both link it to the bittertje, a small glass of jenever, the Dutch juniper spirit. The magazine calls that explanation probable, not certain. The Daily Meal says the same, and adds that beer is now the more common pairing. We keep the drinks out of the rest of this piece.
Where it came from: five accounts
No source we read cites a recipe book or an archive for where the bitterbal came from, so we give no origin story.
How it is served
Wikipedia says bitterballen are often part of a bittergarnituur, a selection of savoury snacks served with drinks in pubs or at receptions, with a small dish of mustard and toothpicks. The Daily Meal lists kaasstengels, chicken nuggets, ossenworst, vlammetjes, nasi balls, frikandel and Gouda among the other items. Dylan Amsterdam says they are ordered in bars, especially the traditional brown cafés.
Quick answers
What is a bitterbal made of? According to Wikipedia, minced beef or veal, broth, butter and flour make a thick stew, which is chilled, rolled into 3 to 4 cm balls, breadcrumbed and fried.
What is the difference between a bitterbal and a kroket? Wikipedia says they are very similar in ingredients and flavour; the kroket is larger and sausage-shaped, the bitterbal round.
Why is it called bitterbal? Wikipedia says the name comes from bitters, the drinks it traditionally accompanies. It is not bitter to taste.
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Roam first. Shop later.