Sometime between the moment the plane touches ground and overhearing Pitbull playing on repeat in the background is when I have my realization: I am officially home, just having moved back to Miami after living in New York for almost five years. Joy suddenly fills my stomach; and excitement awaits, as I work my way towards the exit of the terminal. The flood of all these emotions rushes me, not for who is waiting for me on the other side, but for what?
As I excitedly approach the counter of the staple Cuban bakery at the airport, Versailles, I recite my order over and over in Spanish: “tres croquetas y un café con leche, por favor.” Finally reunited, I take my first bite of the croqueta practically grabbing it out of the server’s hand, a little and more and I would have confused her finger for another croqueta.
Engineered to make each bite equally as enjoyable as the next, without any surprises, every “croqueta de jamon” consists of ground ham mixed together with onions and butter and delectably transformed into a béchamel sauce. And if God is said to not have ended his evolution of Earth after creating light and animals, why would man stop there with the croqueta? The dough formed is drenched in egg and dredged in cracker crumbs. Once it has been double drenched, it does what every self-respecting piece of food should do - it is fried!
The bonus with croquetas is that they can be enjoyed at anytime of the day and in many forms, during breakfast, as a snack, in between a piece of bread for a lunch, as a substitute utensil to help push around the rice and beans on my plate, and even as an offering for basically any occasion.
My long distance relationship with croquetas was taking a toll on my health as I could only enjoy them when visiting Miami sporadically throughout the year. The lack of daily pork dosages and gastronomic satisfaction was affecting my daily behavior, which is why I decided it was time to permanently commit to a life constantly smelling like abuela’s house and being 15 pounds overweight if it meant I can have a croquet every morning at the closest Cuban bakery.
Croqueta, you complete me!