VSIt’s a love of kibble, the ideal kibble, the one I’ve wanted for a long time. She has just come out of her frying bath and is already resting on the work surface left in the works: she is hot, plump, languid on a piece of paper towel, completely naked. I devour it with my eyes without daring to touch it. She intimidates me because, somewhere, I like everything about her: her plump curves, the deliciousness of her perfume, the reflections of her bronzed skin. She’s straight out of an old flea market cookbook, French culinary art (Flammarion). I found his recipe on page 260 of this 1957 edition with the outdated red cover. On the illustration photo, she had appeared attractive to me despite the weight of the years; so why not try my luck?
First I had to reduce four deciliters of Béchamel sauce with 500 grams of raw ham, cut into very fine dice. I then had to spread the composition in a very regular layer on a buttered plate, before letting it blow a little and cool in the fridge. Later, using a knife, I divided the fluffy mass into small portions of 60-70 grams. Following the instructions, I rolled them in the palm of my hands to give birth to about ten pretty conical spheres in the shape of corks. From the lot, I selected my promise: the perfect kibble. I breaded it in breadcrumbs (flour, beaten egg, breadcrumbs) and delicately fried it (5 minutes, at 170°C), swirling it around, basting it regularly with using a spider. Now that she was there, under my nose, how long could I resist her?
It had all started the day before, during my nocturnal wanderings. Two hours spent hanging out on YouTube and a whole constellation of croquettes had suddenly popped up in the spectrum of the algorithm. On the right of the screen, thanks to a few keywords, cooking video recommendations were now scrolling in a dizzying flow.
Queen of Spain
First click. At the turn of a tutorial, I learn that the first mention of the term ““Croquette” is attributed to François Massialot, author and “food officer”, who briefly mentions it in the pages of his book The royal and bourgeois cook, in 1691. At the time, the word “croquette” referred directly to the shape of certain hors d’oeuvres composed of “delicate stuffing”, of which he made some as big as an egg, and others like a nut “. The bechamel-based recipe, as we know it today, will only be listed and codified from the 19th century.e century, by a few illustrious French chefs such as Auguste Escoffier, Jules Gouffé and even Urbain Dubois. In a very documented Twitter thread, published on International Croquettes Day (it really exists: we celebrate it on January 16), food journalist Ana Vega tells how the recipe for French croquettes once crossed the Pyrenees to conquer hearts (and kitchens) the Spanish. Thus, in Spain, “croquetisation” has been going on for at least two hundred years: the dish, served in small portions, is one of the iconic tapas, which is eaten at any time of the day or night. , at home as on a piece of counter.
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