Schnitzel: The Rarely Told Story...

The humble Schnitzel has a most interesting past, having made its journey to the Aussie pub kitchen via our rich migrant history. Whether it’s the German or Austrian influence of early last century or the post war boom of Mediterranean culture we have been irrevocably defined by these ancient culinary recipes. It is a valid argument that the breaded cut of meat we hold so dear became popular in Western Europe after making its way north from Milan to Vienna and then onward where it is commonly referred to as the Wiener Schnitzel. The Italian forefather of the schnitzel comes in two popular versions: The Cotoletta and The Scaloppini, both geographical versions utilise very, very young beef i.e. Veal. The idea is that the young beastie is only months old when it is slaughtered having only been fed on milk directly from mother. This is an optimistic view because at present the accessibility of genuine milk fed veal is priced out of reach of pubs and rarely seen in the megamart meat section. So the average punter would rarely be tucking into real veal, honest pub menu’s display beef schnitzel’s which have been mechanically tenderised and are easily spotted.
Michelle Campbell of Poppyseed Catering gives you her tips and tricks to making the best Snizzy as she affectionately calls them. The top tip is to spend a little more on the meat and of course organic baby veal is the best. Beef or chicken are not completely out of the picture – It is whatever takes your fancy! Michelle only uses “Panko” which are Japanese breadcrumbs, she adds freshly grated parmesan or pecorino and a sprinkle of finely chopped Italian parsley. Set up a 3 bowl crumbing station of plain flour, lightly beaten egg/splash of milk and Panko Crumb with added extras. Michelle recommends double crumbing the Snizzies, so after the first breadcrumbs have gone on put them into the egg and crumb again. Do this after all your pieces to be crumb have their first crumbing, the 3 bowl station gets hideously messy. Leave covered in the fridge on a plate for ½ to 1 hour, this sets the crumb layer. Shallow fry in a heavy based frying pan using ghee until golden, season as you cook with salt and pepper. Serve as god intended... with a good slice of lemon. Floods of sauce hides the flavour of a good Snizzy, keep the flavours clean and they will surely impress. Poppyseed Catering do a great morsel of Baby Veal Schnitzel lightly crumbed and served with lemon, poppy seed aioli. The pub version often falls very short of what is previously described, so for authenticity it is definitely worth the effort to crumb your own veal, and taste the real reason why this dish is so popular. A health and flavour warning: Steer clear of deep fried and drowning monster schnitzels. There is no point.

p.s. My tip for good value pub Snizzy is at The Metropolitan Hotel (pictured). And yes the date is correct!

Giles