Rissoles, Tasmania’s REAL meatballs

‘Lets just do rissoles’. I proposed.

‘Rissoles! what the f#$k, get outta my kitchen’ replied my chef!

Yeah, that’s right. Rissoles. We do rissoles on a stick, and such a name is way more reflective of our culture here in Tasmania than the more commonly used name Kofta.

I shut the f#$k up and got on with it. I liked my job, but its truth! Rissoles are Tasmania’s traditional, colonial meatball.

I wasn’t a major fan of rissoles, but they were far from the worst, or least enjoyable sustenance I attained growing up in Launceston, Tasmania.

Typically prepared with lamb at my homestead, these minced love balls were sealed in a pan, laced with flour for texture, then braised in stock. I always loved a rissole in bread, whether that be with dinner or the next day.

Served with lumpy mash, microwaved beans or whatever greens were at hand, then devoured without much resistance from mine.

It was straight to bed without supper if you didn’t eat up, and I played along when it came to rissoles. I never tucked rissoles in my pocket to get flushed down the loo like I did with other food my Father, and step Mother prepared for me.

So what is a rissole? Rissole is simply ground up meat, rolled into ball, for which is then cooked.

Wikipedia has rissole down as a French patty, for which is coated in pastry or a crumb that is then cooked numerous ways.

Being Australian, and more specifically Tasmanian, wiki indicates a rissole as being a meat patty combined with other ingredients. I typically don’t take wiki with too much merit, and given it currently says that Australians do not eat them hot in bread, I stand firm on that statement. I had one yesterday, cooked on the Webber, in between sour dough and some delicious cheese fondue.

Britain had a rissole boom during world war 2, and given the rissoles versatility in being a dish built from scrap foods, I can see why it was so popular.

There are apparently Australian families that hold old school recipes dating back to the early 20th century.

Rissoles were a common staple for myself, and many other Australian families growing up. Yet for some reason, the name ‘rissole’ is viewed with a fair amount of disdain amongst professional cookery and hospitality establishments.

Kofta, those oval shaped meatballs on a stick that nearly every function menu on the eastern seaboard of Australia has on them, from middle eastern heritage, is the preferred terminology these days.

Ancient texts describe kofta as being from the middle east, with strong links to India and more specifically Baghdad.

The meaning of the word ‘kofta’ can be traced back to the Persian empire, with traditional etymology indicating its meaning to be translated as ‘ground’ or ‘pounded’ meat.

Earliest known recipes, or literature have indicated Kofta recipes being recorded as early as the 1200’s. Ground up scrap meat and spices being blended together so to resemble something edible. There is mention that they were made to look like Hazelnuts too; #koftahistory

Essentially then, kofta is simply left over scraps, blitzed, pounded, and ground into a pulp with some seasonings. Overall though, they are delicious. Traditionally though, they are simply Rissoles on a stick!

Launceston, my home town, has plenty of Kofta offerings, yet you would be hard pressed to find rissoles on the menu anywhere other than a country pub. You can find them nearly anywhere, yet they ain’t called rissoles much anymore.

I don’t think it matters where you go in the world, I am going to assume you can find a rissole variation. From meatballs, kofta and rissole, you are sure to find balls of ground up meat, fat and flavor.

Other translatable names that are very similar to rissoles include: Croquette (French), Empanada (Spanish), Faggot (United Kingdom), Frikadelle (German/Danish), and the list goes on and on. Everywhere in the world has a dish made from ground up scrap meats and other stuff, for which people enjoy devouring.

I really like the name rissoles though, and next time I’m asked to put together a function menu in my home state, I’m gonna present rissoles on a stick and enjoy a debate about how kofta’s are simply just rissoles on a stick when they come at me! Rissoles are my traditional meatball, whats yours?

Check out my rissole recipe here!

#It was funny researching rissoles and discovering that apparently they are not traditionally served in bread with cheese in Australia, given that was the inspiration for my presented dish. I’ve been eating that combo since I was a lad. Browned meatballs with a cheese sauce, pumpkin puree for balance, and greens(snow peas) because I f#$king love greens. My flavors smacked my taste buds around Jackie Chan style, as usual, yet my artistic presentation game is still a work in progress. You can only polish a terd so much someone once said. The dish has heart and soul, yet it isn’t really suited for Instagram.

Further–more- Updated 24th August, 2023

After publishing this story, I shared it amongst numerous online media circles in order to help promote it, but also to get further feedback on what people realy think of rissoles, in comparison to koftas, and to find out why people do veiw them with disdain in some circles.

Surprisingly, people in my hometown gave rissoles a big thumbs up, as you will see from the screenshot below. According to Launceston chit chat anyways. Launceston chit-chat is a 18,000 member online forum for people based in and around launceston. See below.

This lady from Longford in the United Kingdom gave me this insight into why she and many others in the UK hate rissoles.