Hola Amigos! Today we are taking a trip to South America via Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972) for some croquetas de carne from Argentina. And to accompany them we are staying on the same continent but jumping forward in time to 1990 for some Peruvian Salsa. OMG, these were good! I mean not good for you – these are a treat for once-in-a-while. But…for those times when you get a craving for meaty cheesy fried balls with a spicy salsa…these will become your go-to. And once you have tried these croquetas de carne, believe me, those cravings will come far more regularly than before!
Croquetas de Carne
I have made croquettes once before with a ham and egg filling and the method was quite different. In that recipe, you made a fairly thick bechamel and then combined the ham and hard-boiled eggs and some herbs into the bechamel. With this one, you make your meat filling and then the roux/bechamel-type sauce in the same pan as the meat. It was kind of nifty as it meant you only used one pan. And less washing up is something that always makes me happy! 🤗
The croquetas de carne reminded me of our Sri Lankan short eat of Frikkadels which are also crumbed fried meatballs.
Croquetas de Carne – The Recipe
As good as these croquetas are, they did lack a little something-something. The croquetas are very rich; there is meat and cheese and a fried crumb! I felt something was needed to cut through the heaviness of the croquetas. Now, it just so happened that I made the croquetas on the same day that I wrote the post on my Moscow Potatoes. It was incredibly serendipitous that as I was begining to think about what I might serve with the croquetas that I happened to have the magazine page that contained the recipe for the Moscow Potatoes and Peruvian Salsa open right in front of me! Even better, I had all the ingredients for Peruvian Salsa in the house!
The chilli and lime in the salsa cut through the richness of the croqueta’s perfectly!
A match made in heaven! Or South America as the case may be.
Peruvian Salsa – The Recipe
A Return to The Compton-Batts
It wasn’t until just now that I had probably a tenth look at the menu put forward by the Compton-Batts that I realised how…well the magazine article calls their menu eclectic. I would probably go with batshit (erm Battshit anyone???) crazy. Here it is:
- Moscow Potatoes
- Pickled Fish
- Blackened Tuna Sashimi
- Chilli Stir Fried Lamb
- Peruvian Salsa
- Vegetables Cooked in Virgin Olive Oil
- Asparagus with Parmesan
- Berry Pudding with Armagnac Chantilly
First that is a LOT of food.
Second, it is a lot of food that does not really go together.
The Moscow Potatoes are, if not exactly Russian, inspired by Russia.
We then move across to…I don’t know where for the pickled fish. I initially would have thought this might be an escabeche so Spain, but there is ginger in the recipe which I don’t think is traditional in an escabeche. There is coriander in the garnish and coriander and ginger to me says Asia. I will say though that the recipe sounds delicious and I may well end up making it! Also, the recipe says to use white fish but the picture of the pickled fish looks like salmon to me. So the pickled fish is an enigma all round. Here’s a picture of it
The sashimi is obvs Japanese. But why would you have pickled fish and sashimi?
Then we have Chilli Stir Fried Lamb which uses a Chinese cooking method combined with Indian-style spices such as cumin and cardamom.
And the Chinese / Indian main is accompanied by a salsa from Peru. Which it doesn’t really need given it already has chlllies and lemon in it.
Also accompanying our stir fry we have some vegetables roasted in olive oil and some asparagus with Parmesan which for simplicity I am going to say is Italian-influenced. Here’s a pic of the asparagus which is drowning in olive oil. So again, two sides both drenched in olive oil and neither works particularly cohesive with the main dish!
Then for dessert there is a berry pudding (not a pudding but some berries soaked in port and Cabernet Sauvignon) served with an Armagnac Chantilly. So French inspired.
That is one wild menu I thought as I reached for another croqueta de carne dipped in some Peruvian Salsa. I’m glad I’m keeping it simple!
Have a great week!
