Croquettes are a sacred food for Spanish people, and it´s true that these are eaten in many countries all over the world, but only in Spain people go so crazy about them. So, we are going to distinguish the meaning of croquettes for the rest of the world with the meaning for Spanish people.
Meaning of croquettes in most of the countries
As we said on our article about the origin of croquettes, they were actually invented in France, but their recipe is very different. Over there is made with potato inside and that´s how is recognized in many other countries.
So, the actual definition of croquettes is basically a fried and breadcrumbed roll of food leftovers and with a base of potato. In our opinion, this dish is fine, but it´s not very unique.
Oh! Something not many people know about, is that in many countries of Latin America, the word «Croquetas» refers to a dog food…People from Spain take this as a bad joke 🤣
Now…What are Spanish croquettes?
If we just mention the definition, it would be very similar: A breadcrumbed and fried roll, but instead of being made out of left foods and a potato base, it´s always made of bechamel sauce and on many occasions ham. As you can imagine, these few differences make a huge change on the flavor.
We said that ham is used most of the times, but it would still be considered Spanish if it´s made with bechamel and a different ingredient than ham. Actually, these are some of the croquettes you can find in Spain:
Common and famous:
- Ham croquettes
- Chicken croquettes
- Mushroom croquettes (our personal favorite)
- Cod croquettes
Not so popular versions:
- Blood sausage croquettes
- Shrimp croquettes
- Cheese croquettes (Vegetarian option)
- Beef croquettes
- Chickpea’s croquettes (Vegetarian option)
Croquettes are a symbol of Spain
Before we told you about the real meanings, but if you were walking on the streets of Spain and asking the locals, some of the comments they would say about croquettes are that it´s the best dish in the world, that you can´t visit the country and not trying them. And of course, they would talk about the “Croquetas de la abuela” …In Spain people say that there are no better croquettes than the ones made by your grandma. That´s just another reason to love your grandma even more.
Hope you enjoyed reading about the real definition of croquettes
This is all you need to know about “What are Spanish croquettes?”, as you have seen they are very different from the ones in the rest of the world, and they represent a very strong feeling of Spanish people.
Hope this article was useful, and if you have any other question about croquettes or any other Spanish recipe, please let us know!