There is a stoush going on over the humble schnitty. Italy and Austria cannot seem to agree on who came up with the idea first.
The fact that the name “schnitzel” comes from the German word for an escalope of meat seems like compelling evidence in Austria’s favour. In Germany it usually refers to pork schnitzels, with other meats signified by qualifying words such as “wiener schnitzel”, which is – by law in Vienna, I might add – a veal schnitzel.
The Italians rely on history: ancient Romans were known to flatten meat to make it more tender and quicker to cook, but these escalopes were dredged only in flour, not breadcrumbs.
The Turks may also have a claim, thanks to a Byzantine emperor who served schnitzels coated in gold at his feasts, which common folk adapted to use “golden” breadcrumbs instead. But the evidence mounts quickly for the Italian case.
In Italy they call schnitzel cotoletta alla Milanese, and it is traditionally served with a wedge of lemon and finely shredded radicchio. The first record of the dish is on an 1134 menu for a feast at Milan’s cathedral. This heritage is relevant to the story of an Austrian general named Joseph Radetzky von Radetz bringing the butter-fried cotoletta back to Vienna after visiting Milan in 1862. The dish does not start popping up on Vienna menus until after this date, even if Austrians suggest they were breading chicken long before Von Radetz was born. (A dish of crumbed and fried boneless chicken called backhendl was popular in Vienna from the early 1700s.) Perhaps we can agree on a compromise, that the name is Austrian and the original idea northern Italian.
Then we have an even bigger stoush over the birthright of the chicken parma/parmi/parm/parmigiana. This one is between Australia and the US – Italy is not really involved, for this is another one of those “Italian” dishes that is little known back in the old country, like spag bol, Hawaiian pizza, fettuccine alfredo or spaghetti and meatballs.
In the US, the invention is credited to those red-checked-tableclothed places in New York where mobsters got whacked. It was most likely a collision of a northern Italian veal cotoletta with the cheese and tomato sauce of a southern Italian eggplant melanzane parmigiana.
The first written chicken parmigiana recipes appear in the New York Herald and the New York Times in 1953 and 1962 respectively.
Magically, 1953 is also when chicken parmigiana with chicken, melted cheese and ham is first spotted here, in Adelaide, although there are references to eggplant parmigiana on Australian menus dating back to 1898. There is an earlier 1951 mention of chicken parmigiana in the Weekly Times, but this is a parma in name only.
The 1953 US recipe was just southern fried chicken topped with mozzarella or Munster cheese and simmered in a tomato sauce, while the 1962 recipe is basically a baked tomato braise of chicken pieces with olives, capsicum and mushrooms – there is no golden crumb, no ham and no melty mozz. In other words, not a parma.
For my money, the migration of the parma to the Australian pub circuit to become a counter meal in the 1980s, and the pub-dining revolution of the 1990s, made the pot and a parma a near-mythical quinella in Australia. I reckon we also added the slice of ham under the cheese, so let’s claim the parma as our invention.
PS. Let’s ignore the ugly interstate debate about whether it’s a parma, parmi or parmy. As far as I am concerned, you can call it what you like … it’s pretty obvious they are the same thing.
PPS. Let’s also just ignore the Argentinian claim that their Milanesa a la Napolitana predates both the US and Aussie contenders for parma primacy. This is said to have been served at José Napoli’s eponymous Buenos Aires restaurant since the 1930s. The a la Napolitana comes from his name, and not any spurious link to the old country. It is a breaded cutlet topped with tomato sauce, cheese and ham.
Matt Preston’s blushing schnitty
Prep 20 min (plus chilling)
Cook 30 min
Serves 4
4 large chicken breast fillets, excess fat trimmed
1½ cups (110g) panko breadcrumbs
¾ cup (60g) shredded parmesan
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
80g butter, melted
Olive oil spray
120g double smoked ham slices
420g jar cherry tomato pasta sauce
150g fresh mozzarella, sliced
Basil leaves, to serve
Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan-forced). Place one chicken breast between two pieces of plastic wrap or baking paper. Use a rolling pin to pound the thicker part of the chicken breast so it’s an even thickness all over. We aren’t pounding the breast thin, just evening it out for more even cooking. Repeat with remaining chicken.
Combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan, sweet and smoked paprika and lemon zest in a large shallow bowl or a rimmed baking tray and toss until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the melted butter in a bowl. Dip a piece of chicken in the butter to coat, allowing excess to drain off. Place in the breadcrumb mixture, turning and pressing firmly to coat all over. Transfer to a plate or tray. Repeat with the remaining chicken, butter and breadcrumb mixture. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
Place the crumbed chicken into a large rimmed baking tray or shallow roasting pan in a single layer. (You want enough room around the chicken so it can get as golden as possible, so don’t squash them too close together.) Spray well with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven.
Top the chicken with the ham. Drizzle with the pasta sauce and arrange mozzarella slices on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is all melty and golden. Sprinkle with basil to serve.
Tip: If you can’t find premade cherry tomato pasta sauce, it’s easy to make your own. Dice an onion and fry until soft (about four minutes). Add two sliced garlic cloves and fry for one minute. Then, add a tin of cherry tomatoes or 2 × 250g punnets of cherry tomatoes, diced. Cook over a low to medium heat until thick and dollopable (about 30 minutes). Or, you could just use any good-quality tomato sauce for this recipe.
This is an extract from World of Flavour by Matt Preston (Penguin RRP$39.99), out 2 November
