Meatballs Are Better With Capers
Trust me
There were certainly going to be meatballs. Jackie and I had a cold-weather yen for them, and we’d warned our friends that that’s what they’d be eating.
But what would set these meatballs apart and surprise our guests without distorting the ideal form of the meatball as it is envisioned in my corner of New York City, i.e., an Italianate red-sauce form?
I wanted something vivid and unexpected, but not something that would diminish the meatballs. I thought about my favorite tomato-based dishes. The sauce from all’ amatriciana? No: The guanciale and pecorino would compete with the pork in the meatballs. The same logic ruled out other preparations.
Pretty quickly, I landed on another favorite: pasta alla puttanesca, in which every main ingredient — anchovies, dried chiles, capers, garlic, and olives — radiates savory vividness. I’ve used variations on this with substantial things such as thick-cut tuna and swordfish. “Variations” is the key here: When adapting a recipe, it is almost always necessary to nix some ingredients or adjust proportions. In this case, the anchovies would have to go; the received wisdom is that when integrated into a dish, they lose their fish flavor and just add savor. That is not entirely true. Though they’re delicious, anchovies taste of anchovies, and they didn’t belong in…
