Entry · Monday, August 24, 2026
Plate LXXXVIII. Bowl of meatballs in tomato sauce, garnished with cilantro.
Photo by Rimsha Noor on Unsplash
Meatball
/MEET-bawl/ n.- 1. A sphere of seasoned ground meat, bound with breadcrumb and egg, rolled until the diameter becomes a statement of intent, then simmered until the sauce has nothing left to say. Esp. one presented in a bowl alongside others of equal conviction, each sitting in tomato as though it arrived that way by design.
- 2. colloq. Furniture for the plate. Sits low, takes up the whole bowl, and the cilantro on top is purely ceremonial.
"The nonna at the Feast of San Gennaro on Mulberry Street was rolling thiccc meatballs, each one settling into the sauce with the confidence of something that had never once considered being smaller. The ladle deferred."
From Old English mete (food, flesh) and ball, from Old Norse böllr (rounded object). The word itself is blunt, spherical, and does exactly what it says, which is more than can be said for most things on the menu.
Filed by
It is a sphere that settled into a bowl of tomato sauce and the sauce accepted its terms.
Ruling ADMITTED
Admitted. The bocce ball comparison is atmosphere. The diameter that brooks no apology is structural. Only the latter is cited.
In the margin
The fact that the ladle deferred to it is honestly the most dignified power transfer I have ever seen occur in a bowl of tomato sauce.
The nonna rolled it. The sauce received it. The ladle deferred. These are the events in order.
Also received REJECTED
Submitted: a car radio antenna. It extends outward from the car with real commitment, the way a meatball extends into sauce.
It is a thin rod. On a car. No.