It started with a smell. We were wandering through Thessaloniki—a port town on the Aegean with one of Greece’s liveliest food scenes—when we were beckoned by wafts of charred meat and warm spice. The source turned out to be a tiny restaurant called Bombídia, known for grilled, cigar-shaped meatballs called soutzoukakia.

We went back twice to eat them—dunked in feta-chili sauce, with warm bread—before asking owner Yannis Eleftheriadis how he made them. His answer was straightforward: beef and lamb, cumin, hot paprika, grated onion, a panade and eggs. Mix, shape, then grill.


Back at Milk Street, we tried to create Bombídia’s meatballs, tender-soft, barely holding together until they hit the heat. But on our grill they stuck and tore. More bread, drained onions, tweaked egg quantity helped, but we were losing that signature soft, yielding texture. Then it hit us. At Bombídia, the grill is ripping hot, well-seasoned and used all day. The meat sets almost immediately, something we couldn’t replicate at home.

Our solution was the broiler: high heat from above, a solid surface below, ensuring the exteriors could set and char before anything stuck or fell apart. We also swapped panko for pita in the panade— drier and more uniform, which matters when the mixture is already just soft enough.

The result isn’t identical to what we ate in Thessaloniki, but it lands in the same place: charred edges, juicy interior plus a method that works anywhere.

Ari Smolin

Ari Smolin writes and edits for Milk Street’s magazine and cookbooks. Before joining the team, she baked her way from Brooklyn to Los Angeles—laminating croissants before dawn, shepherding sourdough loaves by the hundreds, and discovering that stone-milled flour plus seasonal fruit is her happy place. She writes about whole-grain baking as well, most recently co-authoring “Morning Baker: Recipes and Rituals for Breakfast and Beyond.” You can find her fruit-and-grain escapades on Instagram @Ari.Smolin. Want to talk flour? Drop her a line at ari.smolin@gmail.com.