On the occasion of World Croquette Day, we pay a well-deserved tribute by remembering some of the best croquettes that we find in the bars and restaurants of the Community
My mother’s croquettes are the best in the world. This is so. I have no proof, because it is impossible to try all the croquettes in the world, but I have no doubts either. On this basis, we must recognize that the croquette has historically been a snack for recycling products in bars and restaurants. What was left over and could no longer be offered to customers was used as a condiment for croquettes, which generated a bad reputation around it. Until one fine day, chefs like Francis Paniego (El Portal de Echaurren 2 Michelin stars) decided to treat the croquette as a haute cuisine dish, in order to get the perfect bite, precisely this Paniego croquette becoming the best croquette in Spain. Or so they say.
If I say that my mother’s croquettes are the best in the world, I’m not saying it just to say (how do you do 😜) look at the creaminess. And what is better, the recipe is made by eye! pic.twitter.com/7PDIJVTOms
Sergio Gallego 🍽 (@Sgallegob) January 10, 2022
Back in the last century, Ferran Adrià invented that liquid croquette with the use of thickeners for bechamel and brick pastry that became a liquid cream inside when fried in the pan. An explosion in the mouth that did not have much travel due to its technical complexity. Years later, chefs from all corners of Spain made croquettes of all possible flavors like churros. With cheese, tuna, stew, sirloin, blue cheese, boletus, red prawn, cured meat, black pudding, chorizo, oxtail, gorgonzola, spinach, potato, cod and a thousand more ingredients.
Another important moment in the life of the croquette was the intervention of ‘Dabiz’ Muñoz (Diverxo. 3 Michelin stars) by incorporating a slice of ham, fish or whatever ingredient he used as a filling, on top of the croquette, almost as if it were a niguiri Japanese.
Croquette from the Ajo y Agua restaurant.
The croquettes are eaten with the hands, usually in two bites, and it is preferable to open them before sinking your teeth into them to ensure that the volcano has stopped erupting. The ones with ham and chicken are perhaps the most common, although it is becoming easier to find them very rich in red shrimp, like the ones that the
Pura Cepa restaurant. A couple of years ago I found the ones at the Casa Rufo restaurant (Bilbao) to be incredibly good, where the bechamel is only touched by the hard-boiled egg. No more. Very light, economical and elegant like few others.
Keki Taperia croquette.
But if there was an important moment for the croquette in the Region, it was in 2016, when the ham croquette from Sergio Martínez de
Keki Taperia It was classified in the final of the contest for the best croquette in Spain at the Madrid Fusión congress. She didn’t win then, but being in that final has kept her on the card ever since. The most distinguished elements of the recipe are fresh milk, half of the ham fried and half raw, incorporated almost at the end of cooking, and the batter in panko bread. “You have to cook the bechamel very well so that it doesn’t taste like flour,” reveals Martínez.
San Agustín croquette.
The different coatings of the croquettes are also a separate chapter. From the classic breadcrumbs or the double batter in flour, egg and bread, we have gone on to endless crunchy variations that range from Asian bread, crushed quicos, popcorn and even breakfast cereals. It is the ‘cocrete’ fashion, which bases its success on a light and creamy filling, a crunchy batter and fillings for all audiences.
Croquette from El Chato restaurant.
Tasty and different we also find David López’s tomato croquette (
Rehearsal room and Garlic and Water), which is coated in dried tomato powder and has a wonderful acidity. Now López offers one with flat Murcian ham, fresh milk and a veil of bacon from the same pig on top. The
tandem restaurant (Santomera) makes a different croquette every day, and they offer it in a huge black bowl, disproportionate for the bite, as a sign of respect and admiration for this delicious product.
Tandem restaurant croquette.
One of the strongest and richest on the regional scene is the Murcian chicken with cheese sauce from the restaurant
The hunters of Corvera. Really authentic and fine, the porridge migas de uruga -a plant similar to arugula- from the Jumillano restaurant
San Agustin, and worthy of testing is also presented the one of the
El Chato restaurant, in Murcia capital, on this occasion the filling is made from Murcian chiquillo sausage and rests on a creamy sobrassada.
Croquette of the Hunters.
With a slight flavor of cheese and a crunchy panko on a kimchi sauce we have his
Coffee Workshop, in Torre Pacheco. And, in Cartagena, dozens of those of
The Charito Vermouth, homemade and sweet.
Such is the fashion of the croquette that in Espinardo we find
The Croqueteria, a bar based on our beloved battered ball, and you can find a multitude of flavors for all tastes.
Croquette from El Taller Café.
We have also seen an increase in the number of varieties of croquettes in supermarkets and, above all, in distributors of fifth-range products -prepared to cook and ready-, who seeing the interest of the product have got down to business to facilitate the cooks life.
As can be seen, the croquette has returned to Murcia’s menus, although no matter how hard talented chefs, teachers from gastronomic educational centers or delicate culinary companies, like my mother’s, strive, there are no others.
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