Cotoletta alla Milanese

Yummy, crummy veal. Veal, I mean real veal, is pretty hard to find. Many butchers pass off yearling topside as veal – ptoooey to them! I have scoured suburb after suburb in pursuit of the pale, creamy, young and tender meat to use in Italian cooking. Of course in Italy it’s another story. Scads of the stuff on every street corner, in every osteria, although I must admit the ethics bell goes off in my head when I wonder how they get such large cuts of meat off an animal that’s supposedly only been fed milk. In Sydney, when it’s in season, you can sometimes find good veal at AC Butchery or the fridge at Fratelli Fresh in Alexandria.

A strictly non-Italian addition to my version of this dish is to use Japanese Panko breadcrumbs. While it’s nice to make your own from stale bread, I find that when shallow fried they soak up way too much oil and as a result the veal and coating can go soggy quickly. Panko also gives a slightly thinner more compact crumb coating, in the unlikely event I am caring about the ratio of carb to protein. But the resulting coating is also crispier which is the main aim of the game.

Rather than the Teutonic potatoes and cabbage tradition with schnitzel, I prefer a light crisp salad dressed with a sharp vinaigrette – in this case tomatoes, basil and spring onions. It assuages the conscience for the indulgence of naughty crispy fried veal.