Wiener Schnitzel

Wiener Schnitzel is a veal cutlet pounded until about half a centimeter thick, coated in flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs, and fried in plenty of fat. Traditionally it was fried in lard; today clarified butter or oil are also used, always only once. The right doneness is a golden crust that forms waves and detaches from the meat: Viennese cooks say that the back of a knife should fit between the crust and the meat. Therefore the breadcrumbs are not pressed onto the meat.

The register of traditional foods of the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture notes that breaded and fried meats already appear in an Austrian cookbook of 1798 under the name “Gebackene Schnitzeln”. The name Wiener Schnitzel appears for the first time in 1831 in a recipe book and only becomes established in the early 20th century. For a long time it was a festive dish, served at Christmas, New Year and at weddings, and many families made it with pork, which was cheaper. Later it became a Sunday lunch and a restaurant dish.

A widely repeated story says that Field Marshal Radetzky brought the recipe from Milan in 1857, inspired by the cotoletta alla milanese. According to the same register, that version was refuted by scholars: linguist Heinz Dieter Pohl found the legend for the first time in an Italian guide from 1969, more than a century after the supposed episode.

The Austrian food law (Österreichisches Lebensmittelbuch) reserves the name Wiener Schnitzel for the preparation made with veal. When the meat is pork, the dish is called “Schnitzel Wiener Art” or “Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein”, and it should be listed on the menu as such.