Barcelona: Hot Bomb/Croquetas

Although my first impression of Barcelona was not fantastic (witnessed a lively knife fight on the way to the hotel), all was forgotten after an experience at La Tramoia at the top of Las Ramblas (and then remembered after a prostitute grabbed my boob shortly after exiting). Nevertheless, those couple hours of tasting bite after scrumptious bite was a most enjoyable experience largely due to a little treat they called a Hot Bomb. To be completely honest, this was only ordered because of its name, I don’t think I even bothered to figure out what it was beforehand. Crispy on the outside, fluffy and cheesy on the inside, these little fried balls covered in a spicy aioli allowed me to forgo any guilt I felt returning to La Tramoia a second night when there are literally hundreds of tapas bars to try. The recipe below, adapted from Jane Lawson’s Spanish Kitchen will help you uncover some of the Hot Bomb magic.

Croquetas

• First prepare the béchamel sauce: In a saucepan melt 1/3 cup butter, then add ¾ cup all purpose flour until the mixture is dry; remove from heat and whisk in ½ cup chicken or vegetable stock; gradually whisk in 1 cup milk and return to heat. Continue stirring for about 8 minutes until the mixture is thick and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
• Second prepare the chicken filling: Heat 1 to 2 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan; cook ½ leek and ½ celery stalk both finely chopped in the oil for 5 minutes; add 7 ounces of ground chicken and fry until cooked through.
• Combine the béchamel, chicken filling, and 2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley and refrigerate until completely cooled. Once cool, form mixture into small balls or “tator tot” shapes about 2 inches long. Roll each ball in some flour, then in a beaten egg, and finally into breading (1/2 cup bread crumbs and ½ cup ground almonds). Fry in 3 inches of oil that has been heated to 350 degrees for 2-3 minutes and drain before serving.

A shortcut for recreating the Hot Bomb spicy aioli: mix 1 cup of mayonnaise with 2 tbsp. of Sriracha hot chili sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Barcelona - Parc de la Ciutadella