Croquettes

Chicken Croquettes @ Tapas On Main
  Image from Lehigh Valley, PA
Creative Commons

A random misspelling led to my curiosity about this food; I knew the word and that it was a food item, but little else. 

According to the International Dictionary of Food, this spelling of the term "croquettes" refers to the English or French usage, and means "Any mixture of minced cooked meat, etc. combined with mashed potatoes and/or breadcrumbs, herbs, onions, seasonings and egg or stock to form a stiff paste which is shaped into cylinders, spheres, rounds, ovals etc., panéed and deep-fried"


The Wikipedia article on the term indicates there are several different ethnic and regional variations but the all share a basic similarity.

José (a tapas bar), Bermondsey Street, London
Creative Commons

I wasn't sure what paneed meant either, so I looked it up.  To pane is defined as: "An anglicization of the French paner, meaning to coat foods with seasoned flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in that order, prior to frying them"



This website also offers some interesting insight into the croquette as well as a recipe for a lovely spinach artichoke version which is vegetarian friendly and egg free.

 

croquette. (2005). In Dictionary of Food: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z.
pané, to. (2005). In Dictionary of Food: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z.