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Croquets of Meat or Fish

Croquets of Meat or Fish is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic starter of a meat, white sauce, mushroom, egg yolks and chive mix that's baked, shaped into croquets, breaded and deep fried until golden. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Croquets of Meat or Fish.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Additional Time:

(+cooling)

Serves:

6

Rating:

Tags : Spice RecipesHerb RecipesBread RecipesBaking RecipesBritish Recipes

This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Croquets of Meat or Fish that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.

Original Recipe

No. 315.—CROQUETS OF MEAT, OR FISH.

Either chop neatly, or else cut up into very small squares, poultry, game, beef, mutton, lamb, veal, or any kind of firm fish left from a previous day`s dinner. If the croquets are to be made of any kind of meat, tongue, ham, mushrooms, or trails may be added ; put whatever is intended to be used for the rissoles into a saucepan with a small proportion of white sauce, three yolks of eggs, nutmeg, pepper and salt, and a pinch of chopped chives or shalot; stir this over the fire for a few minutes to set the eggs in the croquet meat ; and then spread it out an inch thick upon a plate, and set it to get cold and firm in a cool place ; it must next be divided into parts resembling large walnuts, rolled in bread-crumbs to enable you to shape it in the form of corks, pears, or balls ; again dipped in beaten egg ; rolled smooth in bread-crumbs; placed in a wire frying basket, and fried in hot frying fat of a light colour, and dished on a napkin with fried parsley.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

300g any kind of meat or firm fish left from the previous evening's dinner, chopped finely
3 tbsp binding consistency white sauce
4 tbsp mushrooms, finely chopped (if using meat)
3 egg yolks
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
pinch of chopped chives (or shallot)
300g breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
oil for deep frying

Method:

Combine the meat, white sauce, mushrooms (if using meat), egg yolks, chives (or shallot) and seasonings in a pan. Place over low heat and cook gently, stirring constantly, until the eggs have set.

Pour the mixture onto a baking dish and spread out to about 2.5cm thick then set aside until the mixture has cooled and set. Now divide into portions the size of walnuts and roll these in breadcrumbs so that you can shape them as desired (typically corks, pears or balls).

Dip the shaped croquettes in beaten egg then coat with breadcrumbs. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 180°C and add the croquettes. Deep fry until lightly golden in colour then drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, garnished with fried parsley.

Find more of Charles Elmé Francatelli's Recipes Here and more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here.