Spanish Cuisine
Croquetas de Jamón
Crisp-shelled croquettes with a molten heart of jamón-flecked béchamel, the tapa by which every Spanish bar and grandmother is judged.
- Prep
- 40 min (plus 4 h chilling)
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Hard
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History & Origin
The croquette arrived in Spain from France, where Antonin Carême served croquettes à la royale to visiting royalty in 1817. Spanish home cooks then took it somewhere else. The French filled theirs with minced meat; in Spain the béchamel itself became the point, made silkier and softer, and flavoured with the end of the Christmas jamón that was too precious to waste.
By the early twentieth century croquetas were a fixture of Madrid's tabernas and of every Spanish grandmother's repertoire, each family convinced theirs are correct. A bar still gets judged on its croquetas (Madrid runs an annual championship for the best in Spain), and the bar is high: the shell should shatter and the middle should flow. Stodgy ones are not forgiven.
Ingredients & Instructions
- Melt the butter with the oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook gently for 8–10 minutes until soft and translucent, without colouring.
- Add the jamón and cook for 2 minutes, just until it releases its aroma.
- Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 3–4 minutes. The roux must lose its raw flour taste without browning.
- Add the warm milk a ladle at a time, whisking each addition in fully before the next. The béchamel will be very thick at first, then loosen to a smooth, heavy cream. Simmer gently, stirring, for 8–10 minutes.
- Season with nutmeg and, only after tasting, salt. The masa is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the pan as you stir.
- Spread the masa into a shallow dish, press cling film onto its surface, and chill for at least 4 hours; overnight is better. It must be completely cold and firm.
- With oiled hands, shape the masa into logs the size of a wine cork. Roll each in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs, making sure the coating has no gaps.
- Heat 4–5 cm of oil to 180 °C. Fry the croquetas in small batches for 2–3 minutes until deep golden. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and they will burst. Drain on paper and rest a minute before serving; the inside is lava.
Notes
The masa should feel slightly too soft to shape when warm; that is what makes the centre molten. If your croquetas burst in the oil, the coating had a gap or the oil was too cool. They freeze beautifully once breaded; fry from frozen, a shade cooler, for a minute longer.