Rissoles

I was watching Masterchef Australia recently and there was a discussion among the judges as to what constitutes a “rissoles”. this arose because one contestant was making them.

To me and to one of the judges it was similar to a meat ball while the judge from Australia was very much on the side of the contestant. The rissole was made into a meat rectangle as opposed to a round or ball. It also used raw minced meat.

I grew up with rissoles being a way of using up left over roast meat or chicken. It was also a way of making a meal from very little. The left over potatoes and vegetable could also be used. I also remeber at christmas that the white sauce was added to the minced cooked turkey and left over stuffing to make a hot dinner and the cooked cooled rissoles were used the following day.

In a cook book called “The Tricity Cookery Book” given with with a tricity cooker in the late 60’s has a recipes for rissoles using minced ccoked meat and a plain sauce.

Another book “Full and Plenty” Maura Laverty talks of vegetable rissoles which are wrapped in pastry, something I had never heard of. “All about Home Economics” talks of meat croquettes and also meat rissoles. Delia Smiths “Complete Illustrated Cookery Course” refers to rissoles using cooked meat minced.

So do you use rissoles? Is it with cooked meat or raw meat?

No matter how you make them I hope they turn out to be delicous.