Skip to content

Maria Pellicci, the Meatball Queen of Bethnal Green

October 21, 2010
by the gentle author

With the arrival of the first chills of Autumn in Spitalfields, my mind turns to thoughts of steaming meatballs. So I hot-footed it up the road to Bethnal Green and the kitchen of Maria Pellicci, cook and beloved matriarch at E. Pellicci, the legendary cafe that has been run by her family since 1900. Although I find it hard to believe, Maria told me that meatballs are not always on the menu here because people do not ask for them. Yet she graciously assented to my request, and even granted me the honour of permitting my presence in her kitchen to witness the sacred ritual of the making of the first meatballs of the season.

For many years, meatballs and spaghetti comprised reliable sustenance that could deliver consolation on the grimmest Winter day. If I found myself in a cafe and meatballs were on the menu, I had no reason to think further because I knew what I was having for lunch. But then a fear came upon me that drove away my delight in meatballs, I began to doubt what I was eating and grew suspicious of the origins of the ingredients. It was the loss of an innocent pleasure. Thus began the meatball famine which lasted ten years, that ended this week when Maria Pellicci made meatballs specially for me with fresh meat she bought from the butcher in the Roman Rd. Maria has worked daily in her kitchen in Bethnal Green from six until six since 1961, preparing all the dishes on the menu at E.Pellicci freshly as a matter of principle. More than this, reflecting Maria’s proud Italian ancestry, I can confirm that for Maria Pellicci the quality of her food is unquestionably a matter of honour.

Maria mixed beef and pork together with eggs, parsley, onion and other herbs, seasoned it with salt and pepper, letting it marinate from morning until afternoon. Then, as we chatted, her hazel eyes sparkling with pleasure, she deployed a relaxed skill borne of half a century’s experience, taking bite-sized pieces from the mixture and rolling them into perfectly formed ruby red balls, before tossing them playfully onto a steel baking tray. I watched as Maria’s graceful hands took on independent life, swiftly rolling the meatballs between her flattened palms and demonstrating a superlative dexterity that would make her the virtuoso at any card table. In no time at all, she conjured one hundred and fifty evenly-sized meatballs that would satisfy thirty lucky diners the following morning.

I was at the snug corner table beside the serving hatch in Pellicci’s immaculately cosy cafe next day at the stroke of twelve. After ten years of waiting, the moment was at hand, as Anna Pellicci, Maria’s daughter proudly delivered the steaming dish, while Salvatore, Maria’s nephew, brought the Parmesan and freshly ground pepper. The wilderness years were at an end, because I had spaghetti and meatballs in front of me, the dish of the season. Maria made the tomato sauce that morning with garlic, parsley and basil, and it was pleasantly tangy and light without being at all glutinous. As a consequence, the sauce did not overwhelm the subtle herb-inflected flavour of the meatballs that crumbled and then melted in my mouth, the perfect complement to the deliciously gelatinous spaghetti. Sinking my teeth into the first meatballs of the twenty-first century, I could only wonder how I lived through the last decade without them.

Outside a cold wind was blowing, so I took courage from ingesting a syrup pudding with custard, just to finish off the spaghetti and meatballs nicely, and restore substance to my attenuated soul. The special quality of E. Pellicci is that it is a family restaurant, and that is the atmosphere that presides. When I confided to Anna that my last living relative had died, she told me at once that I was part of their family now. Everyone is welcomed on first name terms at Pellicci’s in an environment of emotional generosity and mutual respect, a rare haven where you can enjoy honest cooking at prices everyone afford.

I call upon my readers to help me keep meatballs on the menu at E. Pellicci now, because we need them to help us get through the Winter, the government cuts, the Olympic games, and the entire twenty-first century that is to come. Let us send a collective message to the Pelliccis, that we love their meatballs with spaghetti, because when we have a cook like Maria Pellicci, the meatball queen of Bethnal Green, we cannot forgo the privilege of her genius.

Maria Pellicci has been making meatballs in Bethnal Green for half a century.

Anna Pellicci with the first meatballs of the season in Bethnal Green.

The coveted corner table, next to the serving hatch at E. Pellicci.

8 Responses leave one →
  1. gina permalink
    October 21, 2010

    I must go and try these now my Dad is no longer here to make me beautiful meatballs – they look just as good!

  2. Joan permalink
    October 21, 2010

    My eleven year old son is the only meatball eater in this family. This means that I make up big batches from a Delia Smith recipe (pork mince, bacon, parmesan, eggs, bread, milk, nutmeg and seasoning) and freeze them, defrosting just half a dozen at a time. The recipe is meant to include parsley but trying to pass off something green to a young lad is too difficult (unless it’s courgette cake). I wonder if I could get him to eat Maria Pellici’s – I must try some time. Have always meant to go to Pellici’s – this could be my excuse.

  3. jeannette permalink
    October 26, 2010

    i used to have a sicilian mother-in-law who put a touch of mint in her meatballs, being a touch north african herself. heaven.

  4. Kenny permalink
    November 2, 2010

    When I visit my son who lives in Brick Lane we always visit Pellici’s.
    I love the place and , although I only get to go there a couple of times a year , we are always greeted like old friends by “Young Nev” .
    I will have the meatballs next time I go if I can , they look and sound delicious !
    Godbless all the Pellici family , I hope I’ll see them again soon.
    Kenny (from Newmarket)

  5. January 15, 2011

    the loss of innocent pleasure is a constant problem in the modern food world
    what people once ate de facto is now questioned not just by the eaters but the the industrial food world, who will try to convince you that health and safety comes first, not common sense and simple dining pleasure

    meatballs are always a winner in our family – ms pellici’s meatball recipe resembles my own

  6. Miriam Delorie permalink
    December 27, 2012

    Wow – if Pellici’s has been in existence since 1900, then just maybe my Jewish Grandmother Fanny Levy tried them out because they lived in Artillery Lane and I think your place must be not far from there. They sound absolutely delicious…I adore meatballs….
    Happy Christmas to everyone! Miriam

  7. keith kelly permalink
    March 22, 2018

    i know i’m supposed to concentrate on the meatballs, but the inlay panels on the walls are gorgeous

  8. June 19, 2021

    I had never heard of Pellicci’s until I read this interesting story minutes ago. I am, however, a devotee of Spitalfields Life and have hung out a bit in the area when I visit London. Covid is preventing my annual pilgrimage to London and to Italy. I’m 75 and that is killing me, but not as quickly as Covid would. I think of you all there every day – honest!! I love the meatball story as I have been home cook since my mother stopped kicking me out of the kitchen when I was about 10. Mum cooked great meatballs, definitely not Italian style, but good nonetheless, and I have slowly changed her recipe over the decades. Not long before he died my Dad, with regret, told me my meatballs were finally better than Mum’s. As a kid I was always intrigued by anything Italian and went to Italy for the first time when I was eighteen. I can’t possibly recall how many times I’ve been there since. In my thirties I gave up teaching to become a flight attendant to get there for free and free-quent-lee!!! I became a first class galley cook, not that it took any real talent. I was a human microwave in a sense to be truthful. I made many friends in many cities and villages there, and was given a room in a friend’s flat in Rome overlooking the Colosseum. Friends’ mothers and grandmothers taught me to cook wonderful classics of regional cuisine. I cook every day of my life and often, as I did this morning, start in the kitchen long before dawn. Of course meatballs are on the list today – as well as chicken cacciatore two soups and a cake – a friend from my student days is coming to stay. I rarely eat out – Italian yes, but only if I know its good. Pellicci’s sounds exactly my style. A warm and homely family place, a bit of history, and if my place setting is just a piece of clean white butcher’s paper and basic cutlery I’m happier still. Pelliccis … expect me when I can get there!!! Long may your venue continue and long live the meatball – spaghetti or not. Hearty congratulations.

Leave a Reply

Note: Comments may be edited. Your email address will never be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS