Wiener Schnitzel for Dummies

For the longest time I thought it was futile to write about the most Austrian of Austrian dishes... or what is commonly perceived to be an Austrian dish, as it apparently originates in Milan. I guess we're just very good at spotting talent and hyping it enough for everybody to believe we invented it - as is the case with goulash, apple strudel and many other dishes! Last weekend, though, when I was making these yummy breaded escalopes, it dawned on me that there are many things to say about the Schnitzel... and seeing that so many get it wrong, here's the dummies' guide to our beloved Wiener:

1) Yes, that's right. For us, a Wiener is an escalope, not a sausage. We call the sausages Frankfurters.
2) Let not the Germans fool you: a Wiener Schnitzel is NEVER to be served with, let alone in sauce.
3) You want your Schnitzel crispy and crunchy. No soggy shoe sole swimming in a pool of ready-made sauce mix.
4) The thickness of the escalope is a matter of personal preference. After a heated argument over our very first Schnitzels when we had just moved in together, I convinced my (now) husband that thin is beautiful. He's now a devoted Schnitzel flattener and evenly batters them down to no more than 3 mm.
5) If you're a fan of the breadcrumb-coating (my brother used to eat the crust first, before devouring his escalope "naked"), you can make it thicker by either double-coating them or omitting the milk from the egg-mix or, like for tempura, using potato flour instead of plain flour.
6) When it comes to eating your Schnitzel, never, ever make the mistake of asking for ketchup with your Schnitzel. Here's where even my daughter gets it wrong - and you think things of this importance would be in our DNA...
7) The only condiments allowed near a Schnitzel are lemon juice (to sparingly drizzle over - you want it to cut through the grease, but don't allow the breading to go soggy) and cranberry compote. If you want to avoid dropping pips on your meat, wrap the lemon in gauze for a "safety net"...
8) There's only one exception to the condiment rule: the Schnitzelsemmel! (see top picture). This Austrian version of a hamburger (some even eat it with ketchup and mayo, although I prefer my version with fresh tomato, mustard, salad and pickled chilli) is perfect for taking leftover Schnitzel to work the following day - and a great hang-over cure, too!
9) And finally, but most importantly: No matter how much (stingy) people might insist that you can make escalopes from pork, make no mistake: only a veal Schnitzel is a real Schnitzel!

Wiener Schnitzel
(serves 4)

500 g veal escalopes
4 eggs
ca. 50 ml milk
flour and breadcrumbs for the coating
500 g potatoes
50 g butter
1 handful parsley (finely chopped)
oil and butter for frying

To serve:
lemon juice
cranberry compote
salad

Flatten the veal escalopes thoroughly to a thickness of your liking (I recommend 3-5 mm). Season with salt and pepper. Boil the potatoes until soft, then set aside, keeping warm.
To bread the escalopes, arrange 3 soup bowls next to each other on your work surface, filling one with flour, one with the eggs beaten up with the milk and one with the breadcrumbs. One by one, thoroughly coat the escalope with flour, then pull through the egg mix and finally coat with the breadcrumbs.
Heat some oil in a pan, about 5 mm high, add some butter taking care not to burn it, then fry the Schnitzels over a medium heat, turning over repeatedly in the process. Keep warm until you have fried all of them. Heat some butter in a pan, add the parsley and roll & reheat the potatoes in it.
Serve the Schnitzels with the potatoes, the cranberry compote and some salad.

Schnitzelsemmel

Cut a crusty roll (or a baguette) in half, spread some mustard, ketchup and/or mayo on the bottom. Arrange some lettuce on there, top with the Schnitzel and some tomatoes, add gherkins or pickled chillies if you like.

Comments

[Stephanie]

wow...first Anthony talks about spaetzle, now you're doing weiner schniztel! All the ancestral foods I never really liked...

[johanna]

stephanie, that's really a coincidence! i am becoming more fond of our traditional dishes nowadays, although only in small doses. there's actually a spaetzle post on this site, too - http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2004/05/kssptzle_and_ei.html
in case you're after a meat-free version!!!

[Christina]

Mmm, yum. This brings back memories of childhood. My father fell in love with this dish at an Austrian restaurant in London and learnt how to make it properly. We ate it on special occasions for a treat. I'd never heard the cranberry compote part, we always ate it with lemon. It sounds delicious though - I now feel compelled to go out and buy both!

[Christina]

PS Great idea about the lemon! I must remember that one.

[johanna]

christina, you MUST try the cranberries, I think they work really well. It's the only think we eat cranberries with, actually, we don't even have cranberry juice that much and since we don't do turkey, we also don't do cranberry. traditionally at least. Let me know how you liked it!

[johanna]

andrew has posted some wine recommendations with links to austrian wine tasting notes and suppliers (follow trackback at bottom of post). while i would naturally recommend any Veltliner or Austrian (!) Riesling, even any European-grown Sauvignon Blanc, I would personally steer clear of Southern Hemisphere SauvBlancs, as they can be overpowering. Or, if you're feeling adventurous, try another Austrian grape: the Schilcher, a dry rose perfect for a summer's evening...

[elise]

Hi Jo,
The first time I had Wiener Schnitzel in Austria I was shocked. What was this thin breaded fried thing? I was expecting a hot dog. Typical American cluelessness. Here we have (or had, don't know if it's still around) a chain of fast food hot dog places called Der Wiener Schnitzel. So naturally, almost everyone who grew up around these thinks that a Wiener Schnitzel has to be a hot dog. Also, we just call hot dogs wieners. Is that a German thing? Both my dad and grandmother of Austrian descent call hot dogs wieners.

My gracious Austrian hosts certainly had a laugh over my mistaken order and pointed me the way to the "wursts" the next time I wanted something that resembled a hot dog.

[johanna]

Hi Elise, you're right, we can't even decide on a common name amongst German-speakers. We have so many varieties of sausages, it is hardly surprising. But the ones which most resemble a hot dog (though with a thicker skin) are called "Frankfurter" in Wien (Vienna - and the rest of Austria, indeed) and "Wiener" in Frankfurt and the rest of Germany as far as I am aware of!.(Myohmy, I see a post om sausages coming up... nice project for my holidays in Austria next week!)

[Chefdoc]

Hi Elise. Great post! I learned so much. Now the only problem is getting the females in my family over the anti-veal sentiment.

[Markus]

my personal favorite: Schnitzel Semmel. Simply a Schnitzel in between a Semmel, no lettuce, mayo or any of the other standard burger/sandwich ingredients. Just pure Schnitzel!

[Eric]

No sauce on Wiener Schnitzel? Of course not! If it has sauce it's Jägerschnitzel, which is much better!

[Frank]

My dad told me a horror story of northern germany where his schnitzel came drowning in a pool of applesauce. Jaferschnitzel is okay, but its something diffrent, not to be confused with Wiener Schnitzel as it may be.

[Brigitte]

I love Wiener Schnitzel it is one of our favorite dishes. I serve mine with potatoe salad and swabian dumplings - a kind of pasta - called Sptzle
http://gigis-rezepte.blogspot.com/2006/10/heute-gibt-es-auf-vielfachen-wunsch.html

[larkton]

My Mom, a Filipina-Scot who studied with a Spanish chef, used to make something that is similar to wienerschnitzel but she called it Carneng Frita. But she uses calamansi or Philippine lemon. We would eat this with a salad of chopped green onion and tomatoes. Really good!

[Pille]

Johanna, I used veal filet (well, it was a dinner party:), and the dish was excellent. Thanks for 'allowing' me to serve it cold - it went down a storm. (PS It was my first time to make wiener schnitzel).