I Sure Do Miss Those Caserita Ham Croquetas

When I was growing up in Westchester (aka the Cuban hub), there was always a couple of boxes of Caserita croquetas in my family’s freezer. I went to Rockway Elementary School for my first 7 years of education.

One of the sandwiches that my mom packed for me at least once a week was croquetas on white bread with American cheese & yellow mustard.

Whenever I opened up that lunchbox, I was smacked in the face by that lovely fried croqueta in confined quarters smell. I would always squish the sandwich so that the croqueta innards would hang out slightly from the bread; those became the starters for the meal.

My love and obsession for croquetas can be traced back to that orange Caserita box. It was present all over my childhood. I thought Caserita was extinct until a recent visit to Publix.

I was perusing through the frozen croquetas (Brands like Catalina, Goya, La Fe, & Sembrador) when much to my surprise there was a Caserita croqueta box.

The familiar Caserita logo was on it but the box was much smaller than the standardized croqueta box everyone uses (including Caserita back in the day). I bought it without a second thought of course.

It’s been in my freezer for a few days now, but I haven’t built up the courage to fry them and see what they taste like. I’m kinda afraid it will change my thoughts on something that I remember so fondly.

I’ve even considered frying them up the day after one of my Croqueta Palooza events in place of opening up a bottle of sangria to celebrate.

or

They may sit there forever. What would you do?

Caserita Newspaper Clippings

UPDATE

The Caserita brand is now owned by Goya Foods.