A version without egg fricadelle breadcrumbs was cooked in a veal net. The shape of the frikadel could have been phallic on purpose.

Hooft called ‘fricadellen’ a recipe for old spinsters. Also, a special version of the frikadel was served to pregnant women, according to 18th-century cookery books. It was a veal meatball containing an egg yolk, hidden and sewn into a small leaf of lettuce. There is some confusion around whether frikandel should be written with or without an “n”, but in essence, the frikandel and the frikadel are two different products. Until 2005 however, only the word “frikadel”, was seen as the official spelling. The difference between a “frikandel” and a “frikadel” is that the frikadel was invented in 1954 and the frikandel is a similar product invented in 1958 and has a different production method, yielding a smoother end-product. Currently the frikadel is no longer in production.