This is one of those recipes that my Mother's Mother was famous for, you can ask any of her 12 odd children and umpteen grand children, no one made it better than Ouma, which is Afrikaans for grand mother, and is pronounced as - owemaa, could make them.

In South Africa, we over the years have developed it into a celebrated dish which has many recipes that call for this humble ball of minced meat as its main ingredient.

Ingredients

250g of minced beef, lean

100g of day old bread, white

1 egg, extra large

11/2 cup of milk

salt and pepper to taste

1 to 2 teaspoons mustard, prepared

large dash of Worcester sauce

1 onion, medium, finely chopped

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley

Method

Soak the bread in the milk for 15 minutes, squeeze of extra liquid

Mix the onions and bread well together

Add the salt, pepper, parsley, mustard and Worcester sauce to the mix

Add the minced beef and egg to the mixture

Combine the mixture evenly and quickly with as little handling as possible

Roll into balls according to the your requirements

Coat lightly with a dusting of flour.

Cooking these culinary is the art form in itself.

Method 1 for meat balls the size of your hand

Preheat the oven to 180degrees Celsius

Place them in a greased oven dish and bake in the oven for 10 minutes

Turn them over and bake for a further 10 minutes or until they are a golden brown.

Remove and add a bit of water to the oven dish place on a stove plate and make a gravy form the juices, thicken with four and water and a dash of Worcester Sauce

Serve with mashed potatoes, gravy and peas

Method 3 for meat balls the half the size of a squash or golf ball

Heat a saucepan of oil with enough oil for deep frying

Drop in the balls a few at a time

As soon as they rise to the surface turn them over

Cook until an even colour all over

Remove

Serve

As fillings for a meatball submarine

Let them cool down and use as cocktail canapés

Ideal as snacks for lunch boxes

Or even with left over pasta and sauce