Meatball battle!

I know I know...it's been a while but I'm not going to apologise. Most of the time I prefer to eat food rather than write about it. However you're fortunate that on this occasion I felt this particular event warranted a post.

This all came about when two girls had a very mature debate about which meatballs they preferred, Costco or Ikea. Now there's no better way to settle this than to prepare a taste test. There's no way the JFC would miss this, not even for a Felix Baumgartner skydive.

Venue decided, meatballs purchased, it was time to cook. The sauce and pasta selected for this test was largely irrelevant. Spaghetti is your obvious choice of pasta and despite my initial disappointment with an off the shelf pasta sauce, I was impressed with the selection.

Now on to the competitors! In the frozen corner we had Ikea's famous offering named Kottbullar that simply translates to Swedish meatballs.

In the chilled corner we have the Costco offering....quite simply put "Delicious hot or cold". Already a point to Costco on packaging and a dual temperature offering!

On to the most important aspect of the test, the taste. Initially we debated on whether there was a possibility both offerings originated from the same source but I was soon to find out this wasn't so. My generous chefs for the evening placed one of each meatball on my plate and based simply on appearance I couldn't tell them apart. To be frank though I don't think I gave myself enough time to admire them aesthetically before delving in.

The first meatball I bit into tasted very meaty and in some ways a little artificial. It reminded me a little of school dinners (which isn't always a bad thing). The second meatball was very similar in texture but with a more subtle and authentic taste about it. It was clear within one bite of each which one was my winner (I didn't eat them whole...honest!)

There were 4 of us voting and the overall result was....unanimous! Everyone preferred the Costco offering even the little petty one that originally sparked off the debate and favoured Ikea (and myself).

The JFC couldn't help but get his hands involved and also prepared some homemade alternatives that were pretty well received. If you're interested in the recipe then I'm happy to share that.

So the evening produced a unanimous victor in Costco. Do you have any suggestions to rival this wholesale meatball? I'd be more than happy to taste test them!