Little Meatballs With Cherries

While writing this book, I read as many picnic and summery cookbooks as I could find, just to see what other people had done. By far the best book I came across was Claudia Roden's 1981 Picnics. It was packed with great recipes, ideas, and an astonishing amount of research. She graciously allowed me to reprint this recipe, which I adore for its simplicity and the clarity of its flavors.

Claudia told me that these days she often uses dried sour cherries for this recipe, since they're available year-round. To substitute dried cherries, use half the amount specified in the recipe, and soak them in water for about 30 minutes before using. Another year-round substitute would be frozen sour cherries, thawed. But to be honest, nothing is quite as good as fresh sour cherries.

Serve the meatballs and cherries with, on, or in pita bread. I like to scoop up the meatballs with the bread.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground lamb or veal

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Canola oil, for frying

• 1 pound pitted sour cherries

• Sugar

• Freshly squeezed lemon juice

• Pita bread

Instructions

1. Mix the meat, spices, salt, and pepper with your hands until smooth. Form the meat into marble-size balls, or larger, and fry them over medium heat in a thin layer of oil, turning them to make sure they brown all over.

2. In a large pan, heat the cherries over medium-high heat, adding sugar or lemon juice to taste. Once the cherries have released their juices, mash them a bit with a fork or potato masher. Add the meatballs and simmer them until they're cooked through and the cherry juice has thickened a bit. If the juice becomes thick before the meatballs are cooked, add water and continue cooking.

Note: For a picnic, serve the meatballs at room temperature or cold. They can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. For dining at home, or a backyard picnic, the meatballs are also good warm (with warm pitas, too).