croquette n : minced cooked meats (or vegetables) in thick white sauce; breaded and deep-fried

English

Etymology

From croquer, to crunch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

1. Minced, cooked, food (usually meat or vegetables), which is fried in deep fat and sometimes sprinkled with bread crumbs.

Translations

The croquette or croquet is a parcel of food such as minced meat or vegetables, encased in breadcrumbs and sometimes mashed potatoes, formed into a cylinder or disk, and then deep-fried. The croquette (from the French croquer (v), bite), was originally a French invention that gained a world-wide popularity both as a delicacy as well as an industrially produced fast food.

Croquettes in various countries

Bangladesh: Similar to the alu-tikki, alu-chop is a common potato filled croquette served throughout Bangladesh, primarily as a snack. Rather than being entirely filled with potato, alu-chop traditionally has a meat-filled center, most often beef.

Brazil: Croquettes or croquettes, primarily made from beef, are sold in parts of Brazil as German fare.

Cuba: Croquettes here are usually made of ham, pork or chicken, or a mix of all three in combination. Cuban croquettes are generally flour-based instead of potatoes'.

Czech Republic: Krokety are small round balls usually made from potatoes, eggs, flour, butter, and salt that are deep fried in oil. This variety can be ordered in most restaurants as a side dish as well as bought frozen and prepared at home.

England: Plain potato croquettes are available frozen or refrigerated in most supermarkets. Hungary "Krokett" is a small cylindrical dish made similar the Czech variety: potatoes, eggs, flour, butter, and salt that are deep fried in oil. A touch of nutmeg is also used typically. This variety can be ordered in most restaurants as a side dish as well as bought frozen and prepared at home.

India: A potato-filled croquette called alu-tikki is very famous in Northern India, served with a stew; mostly served as snacks at home it is also popularly sold by road-side vendors. Sometimes it is called "cutlet" and eaten just like that or a fast food variation is inside a hamburger bun (like a vegetarian burger).

Indonesia: The kroket (Dutch) is one of the more popular snack items in Indonesia introduced during the Dutch colonial rule.

Japanese cuisine: A relative of the croquette, known as korokke ( コロッケ ) is a very popular fried food, widely available in supermarkets and butcher shops, as well as from specialty korokke shops. Generally patty-shaped, it is mainly made of potatoes with some other ingredients such as vegetables (e.g. onions and carrots) and maybe less than 5% meat (e.g. pork or beef). It is often served with tonkatsu (とんかつ) sauce. Cylindrically-shaped korokke are also served, which more closely resemble the French version, where seafood (prawns or crab meat) or chicken in white sauce (ragout) is cooled down to make it harden before the croquette is breaded and deep-fried. When it is served hot, the inside melts. This version is called "cream korokke" to distinguish it from the potato-based variety. It is often served with no sauce or tomato sauce. Unlike its Dutch cousin, croquettes made mainly of meat are not called korokke in Japan. They are called menchi katsu (めんち かつ), short for minced meat cutlets.

Mexico: Croquettes are usually made of tuna and potatoes.

Netherlands: Whereas previously the dish was regarded as a French cuisine delicacy of varying meat or vegetable content, in the 1800s it started to be used to use up leftover stewed meat. After World War II, several suppliers started mass-producing croquettes filled with beef. The croquette subsequently became even more popular as a fast food. Its success as a fast food garnered its reputation as a cheap dish of dubious quality, to such an extent that Dutch urban myth relate its allegedly mysterious content to offal and butchering waste. Besides the common ragout type filling, other popular fillings served in fast food restaurants are whole boiled eggs, noodles, and rice.

Philippines: the Filipino 'croqueta' is derived no doubt from the Spanish colonial era, but unlike the bechamel-filled croquetas in Spain, Filipino croquetas are made with mashed potatoes and chopped meat or fish, usually leftovers. Like most Spanish-influenced foods in the Philippines, croquetas ares served mainly in middle and upper class households.

Poland: Croquettes in Poland are basically made from rolled thin pancake stuffed with mushrooms, meat, cabbage, sauerkraut or varieties, covered in breadcrumbs and fried in a pan and usually served usually with clear barszcz..

Portugal: croquetes are cylindrical, covered in breadcrumbs, and deep-fried. They are usually made with white sauce and beef, sometimes with a small amount of pork, and frequently with some chouriço, black pepper, bacalhau or piri-piri to add more flavour. Seafood, fish and vegetarian (potato) croquetes are also eaten in Portugal, but less common.

Spain: Croquettes, especially filled with chicken, are also a typical tapas dish. Unfilled bechamel are also consumed in parts of Spain.

United States: In Tampa, Florida, there is a type of croquette made with seasoned crab meat that is traditionally breaded with stale Cuban bread. Locally, this is known as a deviled crab (croqueta de jaiba). A traditional New England preparation uses leftover holiday ham, usually of the maple-cured variety.

See also

• Fritter
• Rissole

References

External links

• Recipe for Dutch Croquettes