2 pounds chicken breasts or veal, thinly sliced
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups breadcrumbs*

Vegetable oil for frying
2 cloves garlic

Seasoning for home-made breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, finely chopped

Garnishing

2 lemons, quartered
* Store-bought Italian-flavored breadcrumbs can be used

1. Pound slices of chicken breast or veal, until they are very thin.

2. Beat eggs.

3. Place slices of chicken breast or veal in the beaten egg mixture.

4. Place the container with the slices of meat and egg mixture in the fridge and let the meat rest for 6 to 8 hours (or overnight).

5. When ready to prepare the cutlets, remove the meat from the fridge and keep it at room temperature while the breadcrumbs are being prepared (about 10 minutes).

5. Take plain breadcrumbs or store-bought Italian-flavored breadcrumbs (e.g. Pastene) and pass through a sieve with small holes, discarding breadcrumbs that don't pass through (The finer the breadcrumbs, the better).

5. If using home-made plain breadcrumbs, season them with herbs. If using store-bought flavored breadcrumbs no extra seasoning is required.

6. Place the breadcrumbs on a dish.

7. Coat the slices of veal or chicken with the breadcrumb mixture.

8. Heat up the vegetable oil.

9. Fry the cloves of garlic till golden and then discard.

10. Fry the cutlets until they are golden.

11. Serve with lemon wedges and fresh salad.

All my life (Till this very year -- actually until today!) I assumed veal cutlets were part of the culinary tradition of the people from Casacalenda, Molise. How wrong I was! It seems that prior to World War II meat was not prepared in this fashion in the Molise countryside. Well, at least my parents believe this was the case. Possibly, cutlets might have been prepared in the urban areas in Molise, but as far as my parents know, farmers didn't make cutlets coated with breadcrumbs. This came as a shock to me, as every since I can remember cutlets were a regular part of The Melfi-Fresco-DiTullio culinary tradition. In the 1960s my parents and/or aunts always -- but always! -- made cutlets for "special events" (generally when large gatherings took place). Later, in the 1970s cutlets were served any old time. Who taught my mother and aunts how to prepare meat in this fashion is a mystery (Certainly, they didn't learn it from a cookbook as neither my mother or my aunts ever used a cookbook in their lives). What's not a mystery is what food historians do know. And they do know that these cutlets are generally referred to as "weiner schnitzels." Austria lays claim to this dish, but whether or not it was "created" or "recreated" in Vienna sometime in the 16th (or is it the 17th?) century is hard to say.... Photo: by the contributor.

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