The inmate was instructed to combine five pounds of ground turkey with chopped onions, dry breadcrumbs, eggs, and a variety of dried seasonings. The mass was shaped into a loaf form on a baking sheet. It was baked at about 350 °F (177 °C) until the internal temperature, when measured with an un-calibrated thermometer, exceeded 160 °F (71 °C). The sheet pan was removed from the oven, covered with foil, and set aside until it was time to eat. By the time the meat was served, about an hour later, it was cool and dry tasting. For the inmates of the San Mateo County Minimum Security Transitional Facility who are served mostly bologna or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, it was a treat. For me, it represented all that is bad about the way we’ve be instructed to make meatloaf.

Although called many names by many different culinary cultures—terrines, pâtés, and gâteau de viande by the French; in translation, “steamed meat cake” by the Chinese; köttfärslimpa by the Swedes; and even ミートローフby the Japanese—meatloaf in some form is common around the world. Other countries have their combinations of ground or minced meat and seasonings, but as far as I know, the United States is the only place that loads their meatloaf with an excessive amount of breadcrumbs. Some people in the States substitute breakfast cereals, like cornflakes, but the result is the same, and to me, the result is unpleasant.

The origins of American meatloaf are unknown and probably evolved from meatball recipes. Recipes like this one from the 1841 edition of The American Housewife: Containing the Most Valuable and Original Receipts in All the Various Branches Of Cookery; And Written in a Minute and Methodical Manner. Together with a Collection of Miscellaneous Receipts, and Directions Relative to Housewifery. By an Experienced Lady.

are for meatballs not meatloaf, but notice no breadcrumbs either. Fannie Farmer in The Boston Cooking School presents a veal loaf that includes “six common crackers” in three pounds of meat—not exactly stretching the meat very much. She also presents a couple of recipes that today we would call hamburger. For the home cook, the ability to make these ground-meat dishes depended on the availability of the hand-cranked meat grinder because pre-ground meat was not common in butcher shops in 1884.

Meat loaf as we know it appears to have become popular during the 1930s depression where the less-expensive breadcrumbs were a way of extending more-expensive ground meat. It also could, under the right circumstances, absorb some of the fat and juices. But in the jail meatloaf, the breadcrumbs only contributed to the dryness. Why? The breadcrumbs were bone dry and toasted, as in capable of withstanding nuclear war, and they were not given sufficient time to hydrate. Also, by overcooking the meatloaf, the collagen shrank to a point where it squeezed moisture from the cells and the proteins in the eggs worked in a similar fashion. All this doesn’t mean that I don’t like meatloaf. I just don’t like improperly prepared meatloaf.

Ideas for amuse-bouche come at odd times and in odd places. In November, 2011, I was sitting at the World of Flavors Conference sponsored by the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California. I was a bit bored with the current presentation and I started free associating amuse-bouche ideas. One that came up was meatloaf cooked in a tube. Why a tube? I don’t know, but I wrote it down anyway.

The meatloaf I eventually made was cooked in plastic formed into a tube shape. It really was just plastic film wrapped around the meat. The meat mixture was suitable for a meatloaf, but maybe more reminiscent of a sausage filling. There was no breadcrumbs and the binder was meat glue instead of egg. I decided after the first batch was prepared that meat loaf needed gravy. Since it is an amuse-bouche not a main course, I decided to stuff the gravy inside the meat. This way my amuse-bouche could also be an homage to the stuffed meatloaves of the 1980s.