Meatloaf

Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked.

It can easily become dry; therefore, various techniques exist to keep the dish moist, like mixing in bread crumbs and egg, covering it with sauce, wrapping it, or using moisture-enhancing ingredients in the mixture, such as filling it with fatty meats, cheeses, or vegetables.

Meatloaf is a traditional German, Czech, Scandinavian and Belgian dish, and it is a cousin to the meatball in Dutch cuisine.

North American meatloaf[2][better source needed] has its origins in scrapple, a mixture of ground pork and cornmeal served by German-Americans in Pennsylvania since colonial times.

[4] Most of the time, it is not filled (as it may be in Germany), though the variation im Speckmantel involves wrapping the exterior in ham or bacon before baking.

In Greece, meatloaf is referred to as rolo (Ρολό)[9] and it is usually filled with hard boiled eggs, although several other variations exist.

In Polish cuisine, the dish called pieczeń rzymska ("Roman roast") or klops is made of ground pork, beef, onions and garlic, with an obligatory hard boiled egg inside.

It is served with boiled or mashed potatoes, brown sauce gravy, often made from the meat juice that comes from cooking the meatloaf, and lingonberry jam.

In Lincolnshire, haslet (pronounced '/ˈhæslɪt/' locally) is typically made from stale white bread, minced pork, sage, salt and black pepper.

Hardinera is a Filipino meatloaf made with diced or ground pork topped with sliced hard-boiled eggs, pineapples, carrots, bell peppers, peas, tomatoes, and raisins, among others.

The most common recipe nowadays consists of ground beef, carrots, sausages, boiled eggs and breadcrumbs, cooked in the oven and normally served with a side-dish of mashed potatoes or rice.

[21] The dish was brought to public attention, albeit mistakenly referred to as a sausage, in the second episode of the third season of The Cosby Show, entitled "Food for Thought".

In Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, meatloaf is called Klops (Hebrew: קלופס) and can be served cold or hot.

[24]During the Great Depression, cooking meatloaf was a way for families to stretch the food budget by using an inexpensive type of meat and left-over ingredients.

This tradition of additions still lives on, but with new goals: primarily, producing a lower-fat dish with superior binding and consistency.

[25] A simple brown or onion gravy or a can of cream of mushroom soup can substitute for tomato-based sauce, but the meatloaf is prepared in a similar manner.

Another variety of meatloaf, in the same style, is prepared by "frosting" the loaf with mashed potatoes, drizzling a small amount of butter over the top, and then browning it in the oven.

Indeed, meatloaf is said to have attained iconic comfort food status along with hamburgers, fried chicken and mac and cheese.

Puerto Rican style meatloaf is made with ground pork, beef, turkey, adobo, Worcestershire sauce, milk, ketchup, potatoes, red beans, breadcrumbs, parsley, and a hard-boiled egg in the middle.