The Alpine classic: veal pounded impossibly thin, breaded in breadcrumbs, fried in clarified butter until golden and soufflé-puffed from the pan. Served with lemon, lingonberries, and the knowledge that you have eaten correctly.
Wiener Schnitzel — the "Viennese cutlet" — is technically Austrian, named for Vienna, but it has been so thoroughly adopted by Germany and the German-speaking world that the distinction blurs at dinner tables from Munich to Berlin. The dish arrived in Vienna sometime in the 18th or 19th century — legends trace it to Field Marshal Radetzky, who allegedly brought the recipe back from Milan, where the cotoletta alla milanese had already been refined for centuries. Vienna made it its own: the veal was pounded thinner, the breadcrumb coating was made lighter, and the frying was done in butter. The schnitzel's defining quality is the separation of the coating from the meat — that characteristic puffing and wrinkling of the crust as it fries, the way it inflates slightly away from the veal, creating an almost soufflé-like shell of crunch that shatters when you cut into it. This is achieved by pounding the meat thin enough (about 1/4 inch), coating it loosely (the breadcrumb layer should not be pressed in firmly), and frying in enough fat at the right temperature. The pan must be hot. There must be enough oil. The schnitzel must be moved and shaken as it fries to encourage the floating, ruffled crust. A proper Wiener Schnitzel requires veal. A Schnitzel Wiener Art (Viennese-style schnitzel) can be made with pork. Both are delicious. Only one is technically correct. Both parties in this argument have been having it for a century and both are right.
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