Traveling foodie Kate Parham Kordsmeier offers a taste of how nine cultures prepare breaded and fried cutlets and where to try each dish here in the USA.
I’m a Southerner — born and raised in Atlanta, Ga., which is to say that chicken-fried steak has a real soft spot in my heart. The chicken-fried description of this breaded cutlet dish often confuses those north and west of the Mason Dixon Line, particularly when they learn there’s no chicken involved — rather, cube steak (tenderized top round or sirloin) gets dredged with seasoned flour and pan-fried in a manner similar to fried chicken (hence the name). In true Southern fashion, chef-owner Sean Brock cubes all the beef that’s underweight for dinner portions to serve up a chicken-fried steak lunch at Husk Nashville. His version is brined in buttermilk overnight, breaded in fried chicken seasoning and fried to order in a cast iron pan lacquered with oil and lard until extra crispy. Topped with housemade black pepper gravy and served alongside roasted potatoes and onions, it’s a refined classic sure to satisfy.
Turns out, Southerners aren’t the only ones with a penchant for deep fried meats — nearly every country around the world has its own version. Take a look:
Austrian Wienerschnitzel
The world’s original breaded cutlet is the schnitzel — a boneless meat, pounded thin, coated with flour, eggs and bread crumbs, and fried. In Austria, it’s known as Wienerschnitzel and is made with lightly breaded and pan-fried veal. Head to New York’s Edi the Wolf where you can choose between veal or heritage pork cutlets (always fried until the golden brown breading just puffs away from the meat), authentically paired with Dijon potato salad, cucumbers and ligonberry jam.
German schnitzel
In Germany, schnitzel is typically made with pork tenderloin, a fact chef John Gorhams noticed during his travels abroad. When he returned to Portland, he added a bona fide pork schnitzel to his brunch menu at Tasty n Alder as an homage to his relatives still living in Germany. The secret to his perfectly golden crust: frying the cutlet in both butter and lard. The melted Havarti cheese and sunny side up egg on top don’t hurt either.
Italian Milanese
The Italians will debate whether Wienerschnitzel came before Milanese — with so many versions of cutlets (called cotoletta) in Italy, it’s easy to understand why. Their most famous variation, cotoletta alla Milanese, is made with bone-in veal, dredged in bread crumbs and fried in butter, and you can find it here in the states at award-winning Vernick Food Drink in Philly. Chef Greg Vernick’s rendition started as a special, but always sold out — today it’s on the regular menu. Expect a panko-breaded, pounded bone-in veal chop spiked with parmesan, chile flakes and lemon juice, pan-fried in butter and olive oil, topped with a spicy maple and cherry vinaigrette and served with roasted butternut and delicata squash and pomegranate seeds.
South American milanesa
During the Italian diaspora in the late 19th century, Italian immigrants brought their cotoletta to South America, where it quickly became known as milanesa — this version was made with various meats (beef, chicken, veal, pork and even eggplant) dipped into beaten eggs and seasoned bread crumbs before getting shallow-fried in oil. In Atlanta, you’ll find a mishmash rendering at Better Half — chef Zach Meloy, who cooked in Costa Rica, pounds beef top round before breading the meat in leftover ground corn tortilla and frying to serve with shrimp Louie salad, avocado puree, smoked chile and cilantro jelly.
Mexican Milanesa
Mexico caught onto the South American milanesa quickly, sandwiching their cutlet between crusty bread (called torta). At chef José Andrés’ Oyamel Cocina Mexicana in Washington D.C., chef Colin King dishes up a crispy breaded chicken milanesa torta smothered in a spicy, smoky chipotle sauce, tangy Mexican crema, cilantro, avocado, refried beans and Oaxaca cheese for a bright and indulgent sandwich.
Japanese tonkatsu
During the Meiji period, a Western restaurant took up residence in Tokyo’s trendy Ginza district, bringing with it a version of the Wienerschnitzel that came to be known as katsu. Today many restaurants in Japan offer katsu (deep-fried pork cutlets) in various forms, from curries to rice bowls to sandwiches, though it’s still difficult to find in America. But if you go to Oakland, Calif., chef Kyle Itani, a fourth-generation Japanese American, serves up a katsu sandwich at his beloved Japanese-inspired restaurant Hopscotch. Itani’s edition is breaded with panko, though unlike Japan’s version (which is made with sliced, white bread sans crusts and tonkatsu sauce), Itani uses chewy French rolls swiped with Kewpie mayo and spicy cabbage, an homage to the common side dish for tonkatsu in Japan.
Korean katsu
During Japan’s rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945, much of their cuisine filtered into what is traditionally known as Korean food today, explains chef Robin Song of San Francisco’s Hog Rocks, including katsu curry, which can be found at diners throughout South Korea. It’s also at Hog Rocks where thinly sliced, dry-aged heritage pork loin gets breaded in panko, cooked with a small dice of carrot, potato, onion and a toasted spice blend (garam masala and tikka masala, mostly) in a rich pork broth alongside rice and kimchi.
French escalope
In France, a mallet is used to thin out boneless pieces of meat for cutlets, called escalope. Though it’s not typically breaded, escalope (like Wienerschnitzel) is made with veal. At Le Bilboquet (locations in Dallas, NYC and forthcoming Atlanta), chef Jean Louis pounds veal top round extremely thin before lightly seasoning it in flour and quickly searing in a screaming hot pan that gets deglazed with chicken stock, lemon juice and butter. The result is perfect atop creamy mashed potatoes.
TRAVELER’S TABLE: Sandwiches from around the world
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