The truth of Milan

In 1831, a cookbook already described the Austrian dish Wiener Schnitzel (Schnitzel). Years later, at the time of the Austrian invasion of Italy, the dish began to be consumed in the Milan area. However, his name had already changed and was calling cotoletta alla milanese (From a rib was breaded and served with bone).

But this is only the beginning of the story, because the Italian theory guarantees that the escalope Viennese is a reversal of this Milanese dish and that it could have reached these lands thanks to Josef Radetzky, marshal based in Italy between 1831 and 1857, who in a report on the situation in the region mentioned the virtues of the dish. However, there is no concrete evidence that it occurred.

These were periods of war and after the war, the continuous migrations of the Italian people to different countries of the world transported it out of their territory and managed to install it in other countries. , including Argentina, of course.

The searcher Giovanni Fancello, a member of the Italian Association of Historic Gastronomy, said in statements to the BBC that "the cotoletta you eat forever. The preparation of the empanada meat is already documented in medieval cooking and cooking was a very common procedure at that time. "As detailed" in the menu of a luncheon offered by a priest in 1134 for the San Sátiro feast, is among the nine dishes served by the Lombos cum panitio. That is, empanada meat loins ".

For the Italian food journalist Pietro Sorba, based in Argentina more than 30 years ago, "the Milanese present in the Rio de la Plata is probably the legacy of the Italians and most likely Lombards". Meat fried in breadcrumbs different regions of Italy, but the similarity with the cotoletta alla milanese is striking. So, it is very likely that the link is that one. "

But no, Naples and the Neapolitan have nothing to do. The famous version of Milanese topped with ham, cheese and tomato was created by a cook named Jorge La Grotta, after a mistake in the kitchen. In the 1950s, one of his badistants prepared a Milanese for a dinner and ended up burning him. A quick reflex, the chef covered her with ham, cheese, tomato sauce and gratin. Seeing that more than one fix was actually a delicacy, it was immediately added to the restaurant menu.