Today in History - 1880

The National Croquet League was organized in Philadelphia, PA.and some say they had the wit to include croquettes at their banquet.

Croquet gets its name from one of the essential pieces of equipment in the game – the mallet - which, if you squint at it the right way, could be mistaken for a gigantic crochet hook, which if you squint at it (in French) through a magnifying glass, does slightly resemble a croche, or shepherd’s crook.

A 'Croquette' - the edible ‘compound made of delicious Stuff'd Meat, some of the bigness of an Egg, and others of a Walnut’ – has been around for longer – since at least the very early eighteenth century. It also claims a French heritage (which you probably guessed from the pretentious '- ette' on the end), but this word comes from the verb croquer, meaning 'to crackle under the teeth, to crunch'. The actual material from which the croquette is made is immaterial – almost anything will do to provide a base for its singular virtue – the one which gave it its name – the crisp, crackly, crunchy, shell. There is no culinary secret to this shell – all the base needs is a good crumb coating and a good deep frying.
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