Recommendations

Croquetas de jamon with P. Rodriquez e Hijos Fino Seco

On the plate are small croquettes with a crisp crust and a heart of thick béchamel with Iberian ham. The fino sets a dry, pale wine against that, which takes away the fat of the frying and brings the ham forward.

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From the shelf

The bottle

This fino comes from P. Rodriquez e Hijos in Spain and is made from palomino. According to the Consejo Regulador, fino ages at least two years biologically under the velo de flor, the living yeast layer that seals the wine from the air; that flor converts alcohol into acetaldehyde and at the same time consumes glycerol and residual acids, which makes the wine dry and sharp. Our own bottle page mentions aromas of nuts and olives and a full, balanced mouth for this bottle. The bottle is 15 percent alcohol and holds one litre.

P. Rodriquez e Hijos Fino Seco

The combination

Why this works together

A croquette is an exercise in fat and salt: béchamel with butter, a crust from the deep fryer and Iberian ham that is already quite salty itself. All that combination needs is something that wipes the palate clean again, and that is exactly what a dry fino does. The acidity and the 15 per cent alcohol cut through the fat of the frying, so the third croquette does not feel heavier than the first. Because the wine brings no residual sweetness, the salt of the ham stays readable; in research on taste interactions, acidity actually lowers the threshold at which salt is noticed. And there is an aromatic overlap: the acetaldehyde from the years under flor gives the wine a yeasty, nutty tone that stands alongside dried ham instead of against it. The Consejo mentions Iberian ham in so many words with fino.

At the table

The dish

  • For 4 people
  • Ready in 5 hours, of which about half an hour is hands-on work
  • Type starter

What you need

  • 30 g butter
  • 50 g wheat flour
  • 400 ml whole milk
  • 50 g Iberian ham, in very small cubes
  • 1 pinch of white pepper
  • 1 pinch of nutmeg
  • salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • breadcrumbs
  • olive oil for frying

How to make it

  1. Cut the ham into the smallest possible cubes with a sharp knife.
  2. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the flour all at once, stir well and cook the roux for two minutes, until it smells lightly toasted.
  3. Add the chopped ham and stir it into the roux.
  4. Pour in the milk slowly while you keep stirring, so that no lumps form. Season with white pepper, nutmeg and salt.
  5. Let everything cook for fifteen to twenty minutes over low heat, stirring constantly, until the spatula leaves a groove in the mass that does not immediately close up.
  6. Spoon the mixture into a shallow dish, cover it with cling film pressed against the surface and let it cool. Then put it in the fridge for two hours.
  7. Shape croquettes from the cold mixture with two tablespoons or by hand. Roll them through the egg and then through the breadcrumbs.
  8. Deep-fry them in batches of three or four in hot olive oil until golden brown. Let them drain briefly on kitchen paper and serve immediately.

In the glass

Serving

Serve this fino at 6 to 8 degrees; in its own guide the Consejo reckons on 5 to 7 degrees. Use a catavinos or white wine glass of about 200 millilitres, filled by a third, so that the aroma has room without the wine warming up in the glass. An opened fino stays good for about a week, closed and in the fridge. This bottle holds a litre; so pour it on an occasion where you will finish it, or expect the last glasses to be less crisp.

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