Who doesn’t like meatballs? Meatballs are fun food, casual food, and flavorful food all rolled into one easy-to-eat morsel. And meatballs are so easy to make.

There isn’t a cuisine that doesn’t have a meatball of its own, call them pulpety in Poland, almondigas in the Philippines, or keftedes in Greece. The world loves meatballs. And this book lets you sample them all. You’ll find recipes from meatball-loving countries around the world, and you’ll find meatballs made from a panoply of foods.

Meatballs are often thought of as “family fare” or “peasant food.” And with good reason. Add some vegetables, breadcrumbs, rice, or any other number of ingredients, and meatballs are a way to stretch a limited amount of expensive meat to feed more people. Now that’s a concept that appeals to us today with skyrocketing food prices. Meatballs, however, can have much loftier culinary connotations. Take the French quenelle; it’s nothing more than a poached meatball made with fish.

This book also contains many variations on the meatball theme. My theory is that after you make a recipe once—and like the results—you’ll want to make it again. You can make it exactly the same way, or change it to add variety to your table. For example, who doesn’t love basic Italian-American meatballs on top of spaghetti? But I’ll show you how to prepare one-step lasagna with leftover meatballs.

Unlike most foods, meatballs also have dual personalities. They can be plain. They can be fancy. The same meatballs your family enjoys for dinner one night can be made as miniatures and served to guests as part of the hors d’oeuvre at your next cocktail party. Meatball dishes work well at buffets because they’re “fork-only food.” Even if larger than bite-sized, they can be divided into smaller pieces without using a knife, so guests can eat them easily while standing up.

So read on and start making—and enjoying—meatballs.