The History of Spaghetti and Meatballs

Italian-style meatballs as we know them in America are largely an Italian-American phenomenon, but they have their roots in southern Italian cuisine. Polpettes or polpettines are small meatballs made with an equal ratio of milk-soaked breadcrumbs and meat. In Italy, they’ve long been eaten on their own as one complete course in a larger meal and were typically made in the home kitchen rather than in restaurants. They were considered easy to make and economical, which was important because southern Italy was largely impoverished in the late 1880s and early 1900s. Between 1880 and 1920, around 4 million Italians immigrated to America, the vast majority of them coming from southern Italy. They brought their recipes with them, but quickly learned to adapt to the different economic conditions and the relative availability of ingredients in America. Meat was far more affordable and abundant, but these immigrants still couldn’t afford the nicest cuts, so they made — you guessed it — meatballs. The size and meatt-to-bread ratio of the meatballs increased, and for the first time, they were paired with other ingredients — namely, marinara sauce and spaghetti. Marinara was popular in Naples because it could be made quickly, often once wives saw their husbands’ fishing boats returning for the evening on the horizon (hence the name, which is derived from the word marinaro, meaning “sailor”). It remained popular with Italian immigrants in large part because it was one of the few dishes for which the ingredients were readily available in America. Pasta is thought to have been introduced to Italy during the Arab invasion of Sicily in the 8th century, but it was long considered an appetizer there, not a main course or side dish. It was also readily available in America. And indeed, it was Italian-Americans who first married spaghetti, marinara, and meatballs together. Some historians believe this was done to satisfy Anglo-American palates, while others believe these immigrants simply combined all of the familiar ingredients they could find into a comfortingly familiar, yet newly decadent dish. Either way, it caught on, and today, spaghetti and meatballs is a staple at every Italian-American restaurant in the country and is also very popular with Americans of all backgrounds.