Expert Article: Chicken Parmesan

 Chicken Parmesan: Life

 

The Early Years

 

Growing up in an Italian family has its perks. From a young age I was surrounded by a big family and even bigger parties. While the company was amazing, the best part about my childhood was the food. 

 

Food runs my family. Whenever there was a celebration, half my family would be in the kitchen preparing something. Who knew it took 15 people to cook a pasta dish! From pasta bolognaise to fettucine alfredo, I’ve tried every dish there is. Amongst all these dishes, sits my absolute favorite— chicken parmesan!

I’ve been a fan of the dish since my mother made it for me when I was young. It helped having an amazing mother who was also a fantastic cook. Once I tasted the cheesy, crispy chicken, I was hooked. 

 

A Little History

 

The first chicken parmesan recipes in the United States appeared in New York in the 1950s (Preston). It has increased in popularity since and now is a staple food amongst Italian-Americans. Even now when I visit my New York family, I always stop to get a chicken parmesan sandwich at any of the local delis. 

 

Chicken parmesan was not common in Italy before the Italian diaspora as chicken was expensive in Italy. In fact, eggplant was used primarily for chicken parmesan (Paesana). The Food Table also writes “When it comes to chicken parmesan, most Italian American versions do not include the eggplant while in nearly all Italian recipes the eggplant is a given.” It wasn’t until Italian-Americans discovered that chicken was much more available in the United States that chicken parmesan became more popular. 

 

Getting Started

 

Besides from eating the food, my mother also taught me the importance of making the food. She guaranteed I’d thank her in the future for teaching me. She was right. Now to repay the favor, I’m going to teach you all how to make the wonderful dish known as chicken parmesan.

 

You first need the following ingredients—

 

·      Breading

·      Vegetable Oil

·      Chicken

·      Eggs

·      Flour

·      Sauce

·      Mozzarella Cheese

 

First Steps

 

First, you need tenderize your chicken so that it will have good texture. 

 

Next, you must put the flour, whisked eggs, and breading in separate bowls. Turn the stove to a medium high temperature and pour your vegetable oil into the pan.

 

Once the pan is ready, take the chicken breast and dip it first into the flour, second into the egg, and lastly in the breading. Then, place the breaded chicken into the pan and let it cook for 3 and half minutes on each side. Once finished, remove the chicken, and place it in a casserole pan. Repeat this process for all your chicken.

 

Decorations

 

Moving on, one should delicately spread their tomato sauce on top of the fried chicken. The sauce can dominate the taste of the chicken parmesan, so be sure to be careful not to put too much. It helps to have a family recipe passed down to go to but if you don’t have one you can use any canned sauce or find a recipe online.

 

Your next step will be to sprinkle cheese on top of the sauce and chicken. You can choose to shred your own cheese or shredded cheese. My suggestion would be to shred your own cheese but that’s only because I’m a little old fashioned. In the case of chicken parmesan, you use mozzarella and not parmesan cheese. If you want the best of the best look for mozzarella from the Campania region of Italy (Marchetti). 

Finishing Touches

 

After sprinkling cheese atop the chicken, you’ll set the over to 350 degrees and let the chicken cook for 10-12 min. During that time, it’s your job as chef to relax and enjoy a cold beer, glass of wine, joint, or whatever you’re into. 

 

Once the timer beeps and your chicken parmesan has toasted to a golden crisp, you’ll remove the casserole tray and let your meal cool while you prepare the pasta or bread.

 

When it comes to eating your chicken parmesan, you can’t just have it plain. Recently, I’ve had chicken parmesan as a sandwich, and it’s been fantastic. The more traditional approach is to prepare pasta along with your chicken parmesan. In most of my childhood memories we had spaghetti with our chicken parmesan. Although I always preferred the chicken parmesan to the pasta.

 

Chef’s Tip

 

Chicken parmesan is a great thing to learn to make because it’s a very well-rounded recipe. It gives you good practice frying chicken, cooking chicken, making sauce, and possibly even preparing a sandwich. The overall process of making chicken parmesan will give you great experience to begin to cook other things. 

 

Closing Time

 

In closing, I apologize that I couldn’t reveal the secret twists and turns that make the family recipe as good as it is, but I hope this article will encourage you to eat more chicken parmesan and possible cook more too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The Story Behind Chicken Parmigiana.” Paesana, 29 May, 2020

https://www.paesana.com/blog/the-story-behind-chicken-parmigiana. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022

 

“Schnitty stoush: Matt Preston on the origins of chicken parmigiana and how to cook it – recipe.” Matt Preston, The Gaurdian, 30 Oct. 2021

            https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/oct/30/schnitty-stoush-matt-preston-on-the-origins-of-chicken-parmigiana-and-how-to-cook-it-recipe. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022

 

“The foodie traveler on … the best mozzarella in the world.” Silvia Marchetti, The Gaurdian, 12 Apr. 2015

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/apr/12/mozzarella-buffalo-campania-italy-cheese#:~:text=That%20comes%20only%20from%20the,tastier%20cheese%20than%20cow's%20milk. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022

 

“Chicken Parmesan.” The Food Table, 6 Feb. 2022 http://thefoodtable.com/chicken-parmesan.html. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022