Generality
Nowadays, cutlet is a generic term that indicates a food (animal or vegetable), breaded and cooked in a fat or grilled, grilled or baked.
Milanese cutlet and famous variants
On a national level, as many readers will already know, the cutlet par excellence is the Milanese one . It is a veal cutlet about 2-4 centimeters thick (therefore a slice of loin to which the bone is kept), floured, breaded (with egg and breadcrumbs ), thick in butter and seasoned with the same cooking fat . A rather widespread variant is the elephant ear, which is the same piece of meat without bone that is beaten until it becomes very thin (and then cooked in the same way).
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Nutritional values (per 100 g of edible portion)
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The same can be said of the international variants of the Milanese cutlet; in Austria the Wiener Schnitzel is considered a typical food and in Japan, although from more recent times, the Katsurestsu (between the 9th and the 20th century). There is a certain dispute between the Milanese and the Viennese over " who first discovered the breaded and fried loin ", but it does not matter. The Austrian version is also fried in animal fat, more precisely in lard. By contrast, Austrians mainly use pork.
There are also many variations of the Italian schnitzel which, to tell the truth, do not have much to do with the traditional Milanese recipe. In fact, both the raw materials and the process of use change, while they are common for the use of breading . Examples are quite well known: the pork loin cutlet, the chicken or turkey cutlet, the fish cutlet, the melted meat cutlet and / or enriched with cheese and vegetables, the vegan cutlets etc. Furthermore, while the Milanese cutlet is fried in butter, today vegetable oils (better extra virgin olive oil or peanut) are preferred because they are more resistant to high temperatures and, almost always, healthier. By the way, not all cutlets are fried! Some lend themselves to alternative cooking such as the plate, the pan and the oven.
Nutritional characteristics
The Milanese cutlet is a high calorie food, rich in animal fats and with a fair portion of cholesterol; it is not a food suitable for the slimming diet or that against hypercholesterolemia.
The protein fraction is abundant, while the carbohydrates are not many. The fibers are almost absent.
From the saline point of view, the Milanese cutlet brings good amounts of iron and potassium, while as far as vitamins are concerned there is no shortage of thiamine (vit. B1), riboflavin (vit. B2), niacin (PP) and the vit. TO.
In the catering sector, large quantities of salt are often added to the cutlet to add flavor to the product; this negatively impacts above all in the diet of subjects suffering from hypertension.
