The most frequent question this writer receives is “Where do you find all the people, places and subjects that you write about?”

The answer may be found in everyday conversation, which is how this story came about. Several ladies were discussing how much they all liked to make meatloaf and how delicious they thought it is. But wanting to know more about this classic American comfort food, they decided to ask the food writer to write a story. Well, here it is.

The history of meatloaf, according to some historians, can be traced to medieval Europe around the fifth century in the Mediterranean region. There was a dish of finely chopped meat scraps combined with fruits and spices into a loaf. The Romans’ cookery collection included a minced loaf of meat with wine and bread. Different ways to make meat scraps into loaves appeared sporadically in various areas over time. The first recipe for meatloaf, still calling for chopped meat, appeared in the 1870s, not as a dinner dish but as a...