• Food & Wine

Cotoletta a la Milanese Recipe

His secret? Cutlet, breadcrumbs and... fry in a frying pan with bubbling butter

Cotoletta alla Milanese, a recipe for the province's culinary symbol. Along with zaffron risotto and panettone, this dish has been given the Municipal Designation by the city of Milan, codifying the cotoletta recipe about 8 years ago.

Its origins are disputed with Vienna, where a large pan-fried cut of meat known as schnitzel is equally popular.

The Milanese version is quite different, it gets "dipped in egg wash, breaded and fried in butter" as Joseph Radetzky said himself. 

The nineteenth century consacrated the fame of this specialty, even though there is evidence that older testimonials of its existence. According to Milanese magazine il Verri, the first recorded testimony of it dates back to a monk of the San Ambrogio abbey in 1134 on a grocery list that mentions "lombolos cum panitio", considered by many to be the forerunner of the modern cotoletta.

For the authentic recipe, click on the menu below to get the proper ingredients and follow the precise preparation method, so you too can cook this appetizing entrèe at home and impress your friends and family whenever they come to dinner.

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