{"id":954,"date":"2017-05-01T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T15:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=954"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:59:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:59:20","slug":"croquetas-de-jamon-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2017\/05\/01\/croquetas-de-jamon-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Croquetas de Jamon (Cuban Ham Croquettes)"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 1, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

In early 2014, my husband and I were lucky enough to go to Cuba with two close friends.\u00a0 This was prior to the loosening up of restrictions on travel by Americans to the island nation.<\/p>\n

Because of the guidelines governing such travel, we had to spend a significant portion of our time interacting with Cubans, not being tourists.\u00a0 We visited a schools for the arts and music, toured cultural sites, attended lectures, saw a cigar factory, and met with some Cubans in their homes, among other activities.<\/p>\n

All of Cuba is divided up into small units that are under the watchful eye of a trusted local who reports any unusual activities to the authorities.\u00a0 These units could be a section of a street, for example, or a multi-unit building.\u00a0 What turned out to be one of the most memorable events was meeting with the residents of one such building one evening in Cienfuegos.<\/p>\n

The children put on a small performance, we had refreshments, then spent several hours chatting with the building\u2019s residents.\u00a0 It seemed to us that everyone was quite open, talking about the challenges, as well as the benefits (such as free education and health care) of life in Cuba.\u00a0 In fact, while it seems that most Cubans we met were in favor of a more open society they were understandably very protective of their access to education and health care.<\/p>\n

One man, seemed particularly open about the difficulties of life in Cuba.\u00a0 This was surprising to us as his wife was the designated party operative responsible for overseeing this particular building.\u00a0 Our suspicions seemed to be confirmed when he disappeared into their apartment shortly before the evening ended after his wife gave him \u201cthe look.\u201d\u00a0 As our vehicle was pulling away from the building, he ran out and waved us good-bye.\u00a0 Clearly he had been banished from the meeting but kept a watchful eye from his apartment, exiting at just the right moment.<\/p>\n

In addition to spending the major portion of our trip interacting with Cubans we were prohibited from actually going to the beach!\u00a0 This was supposed to be an educational and cultural interchange, not fun.<\/p>\n

Even more interesting is that, at the time, Americans were prohibited from buying Cuban cigars and rum.\u00a0 Mind you, I’m not talking about bringing these items back to the United States which was definitely forbidden, but buying and using them while in Cuba.<\/p>\n

This would seem to be a singularly difficult rule to enforce and I can\u2019t say that anybody paid particular attention to it.\u00a0 One of our most pleasant experiences was sitting at a park on the waterfront in Cienfuegos sipping rum (from plastic cups) smoking cigars and watching the sun set.<\/p>\n

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We ate a lot of croquetas in Cuba and drank a lot of rum punch, mojitos, and cariocas.\u00a0 After we got back we pulled together a Cuban dinner with a few other friends.\u00a0 I made the traditional finger-sized croquetas\u2014seven dozen of them, actually!\u00a0 Here is a picture of me frying them as well as a platter full of cooked ones along with some plantain chips and mojitos.<\/p>\n

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For this post, since I was cooking them as an entr\u00e9e rather than as a nibble with cocktails, I made them larger.

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Croquetas de Jamon (Cuban Ham Croquettes)<\/h2>\n
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Instead of ham, croquetas can be made with cooked fish, salted cod, or potatoes among other ingredients. Cracker crumbs are the standard coating used in Cuba but fine dry breadcrumbs will work fine. I really like using plain panko crumbs whizzed in the food processor to finely pulverize them. They give an amazing crunch! If you are making these to serve as nibbles, you should get seven dozen. If you are making larger croquetas to serve as a main course, this recipe will make 16. Two or three of the larger croquetas will serve one person depending on what else is being served.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>1 hour<\/span><\/span> hr<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>20 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>10 hours<\/span><\/span> hrs<\/span> 20 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>6<\/span> people<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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