That's a Gigantic Meatball

You could cut the tension with a knife — a really large knife — in Concord, NH Sunday.

Matthew Mitnitsky, a Brooklyn native who now owns Nonni's Italian Eatery, with three Granite State locations, was poised to do the near-impossible: break the record for the world's largest meatball.

Mitnitsky set out to shatter the standard-bearer earlier this year after he learned that the meatball record (109 pounds) had been set in Cancun, Mexico in August. Folks at the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" topped the record a short time later with a 198.6-pound whopper, but that wasn't enough for our meatball-loving hero.

"He (Kimmel) wanted to bring the meatball back to the United States," Mitnitsky told the Concord Monitor shortly before his three-hour celebration/weigh-off began Sunday. "But I said that it belongs on the East Coast. My gumbas back home (in Brooklyn) said, 'Hey, Mattie, you should do something about that.'"

So that's just what he did. He began cooking his over-sized creation Wednesday in a restaurant oven with a dome-shaped top that he uses to cook his sauces. He later stored it in a huge refrigerator, wrapped in a gigantic white cloth.

He planned a drama-filled event for the unveiling, and an intimidating-looking official from the Guinness Book of Records, Danny Girton, Jr.,  flew in from New York for the big weigh-off. Before the event started, he set expectations — and nerves — high.

"Contrary to what many people may believe, the percentage of successful applicants is actually 3 percent," Girton said before the big event. "Who knows what may happen? We still have to weigh the meatball."

After several entertainment acts performed, the big moment arrived. As local cheerleaders heralded its arrival, the big ball of meat was wheeled out on a giant cart atop a giant spoon. It was carefully placed on a high-tech scale resembling a cookie sheet, and the crowd presumably held its breath as the digits on the scale crept higher.

It stopped at 222.5, officially breaking the previous record, and joyous pandemonium ensued. "Mama Mia!" Mitnitsky's father exclaimed after a bite of the gigantic mushed up ground beef. "That's a great meatball."

A world record meatball, actually.

Photo courtesy of RecoveryMinded via Wikimedia Commons.