Croquette

Croquette a French culinary term which was adopted into English too, as long ago as the beginning of the 18th century. Ayto (1993) points out that Phillipps (1706) gave the following meaning: ‘In Cookery, Croquets are a certain Compound made of delicious Stuff’d Meat, some of the bigness of an Egg, and others of a Walnut.’

As Phillipps thus indicated, a croquette is always quite small, but highly variable in shape (a ball, a cylinder, an egg shape, a rectangle, etc.); the basic ingredient is either vegetable or meat or fish (although occasionally something sweet) which is puréed or diced and bound together with a thick velouté sauce or panada; cooking is achieved by coating the croquette with breadcrumbs and deep-frying it, so that the exterior becomes golden and ‘crunchy’ (croquant). Potato croquettes are frequently met. Croquettes of salt cod are especially good.