Who doesn’t love meatballs? They are the mouth-watering dish with endless incarnations around the world. This ultimate collection honours them all, from classically meaty to fish and vegetarian variations, fancy and teeny tiny to giant and rustic.

They are the comforting meal so well-loved that each country has their own speciality and each family has a favourite recipe, often handed down through generations, whether an Italian Nona who made the best polpette or a Spanish Abuela who possessed the secret recipe for outstanding albondigas. Choose them grilled, fried, baked, braised or steamed, they are always supremely tasty, and, luckily for cooks, nearly impossible to get wrong!

101 Meatballs includes traditional favourites from around the world, organized into Beef, Pork, Lamb, Poultry, Fish and Vegetable. Indeed, the word ‘meatball’ is an ever-evolving concept. The defining feature need not be the nature of the ‘meat’, but the way that a creative blend of spices and herbs can be combined and rolled together to create a perfectly textured mouthful bursting with flavour. This book certainly takes things one step further than bog-standard balls. Try the Crispy Duck Bon Bon, the Christmas Turkey Meatball or the Paleo Sweet Potato Kale Ball.

The mother of versatile eke-out foods, meatballs can be plumped and improved with breadcrumbs, minced onion, eggs, cheese and many other components to make a little bit go a long way. No matter which side dish you happen to fancy, you can guarantee there will be a ball to suit it. Be it a packet of spaghetti and a spicy tomato sauce, mash and copious amounts of gravy, or a fresh and aromatic oriental soup. However you take your meatballs, you’ll find the perfect recipe here.