Cape Town - Trust Australians to call them a “parma” or a “parmi”. They’re Chicken Parmigiana, and MasterChef Australia nuts like myself know that they are, in the land of Oz, as ubiquitous as surfers, ’roos and having salad with everything.
They may even have it with their oats for breakfast, if the dishes prepared on that cooking show are an indication. Salad, I mean.
Then again, the Australian definition of salad seems to differ from the standard tomato, cucumber and lettuce tradition. There may well be potato in it, or even kangaroo. Or anything else that’s either not cooked or goes with stuff that’s not cooked.
Judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris must be sick and tired of the answer being “yeah I’m gonna serve it with a salad, mate” whenever they ask “what’s that with?”.
I’m not knocking it, mate, just observing the habit. Most of the salads they produce look most appetising even if there seems to be absolutely no pattern to it all.
Having seen “parmas” being made on the show and having (understandably presumed them to be based on the Italian aubergine dish (which they are), my interest was piqued.
Not surprising, then, that the Wikipedia entry on the dish has only a brief mention, in passing, of its vague Italian provenance before embarking on a lengthy discourse of the Australian dish.
Let’s dispense with the bit part players first: In the US they’re called a “parm” and often served as an entree, says Wiki, or on top of pasta, or in sandwiches. Riiiiiiight. Moving on.
In the UK, there’s a dish from Middlesborough called a “parmo” which is a breaded chicken cutlet topped with bechamel and cheese. Argentinians apparently enjoy Milanesa a la Napolitana, topped with ham, bacon or a fried egg.
But Australians appear to have perfected the chicken version and made it a national dish, if not an obsession. When you go down the pub, whether in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane or Perth, you’re likely to find it on the menu.
There, the tradition has something in common with the Argentinian version, in that a slice of ham or bacon is a part of the mix. This seems to be influenced by the Italian-American dish, veal Parmigiana, which is often mistakenly understood to be Italian. While no doubt you might find it here and there in Italy, it is melanzane alla Parmigiana that is the original Italian classic – made with slices of fried aubergine baked with mozzarella and tomato sauce, by which I don’t mean ketchup.
Says Wikipedia, “There is some dispute (in pubs Down Under) as to whether the chips should be served under or next to the chicken”. Um, there shouldn’t really need to be any discussion about that. The answer is no, the chips shouldn’t be served either under or next to the parma.
They further enlighten us that some restaurants “hold competitions with prizes for people who successfully finish a large chicken Parmigiana, such as the ‘Parmageddon” which was served in an Adelaide Hills pub’.
There’s even a specialised chicken parma restaurant in Melbourne, while you can also buy chicken parmigiana subway sarmies, and chicken parmigiana pies. Now that’s just silly.
Mind you, coming as I do from Cape Town where the local speciality is a breadroll with viennas, steak, curry, chips and pretty much everything else you find in the fridge inside it, who am I to talk.
But here’s the thing: made chicken parmas last week according to a pukkah Australian recipe, and guess what? They are so good, so easy to make, so rewarding, and my conclusion is that they ought to be a part of almost every family’s repertoire. They could so easily catch on here.
So here goes: there are many recipes for this, but this one, adapted from one I found at www.taste.com.au – a very reliable resource of recipes, by the way – was a winner.
Adapt the quantities as you need to,just use your own taste and commonsense. Serve each guest two portions of fillet, as they are halved.
Chicken Parmigiana
Serves 2
40g flour
200g breadcrumbs (made from day-old bread)
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbs milk
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 chicken breast fillets halved horizontally (i.e. to make two flat pieces per fillet)
1 brinjal, from which cut 2 thin slices right through the middle
Olive oil for frying
1 or 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
Fresh basil leaves
40g coarsely grated Cheddar
Finely rated Parmesan
Salad, to serve
Australian salad of your choice
No chips
Pour flour on to one plate, breadcrumbs on to another. Season flour with salt and pepper.
Whisk eggs, milk and finely chopped garlic in a bowl that you’re able to dip the chicken fillets in.
Dip chicken pieces in flour, shake off excess, then in egg, then breadcrumbs. Keep aside.
Heat a frying pan to a moderate temperature, say mark 3 on your hotplate.
Brush brinjal slices with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Fry on each side for 2 minutes or until golden. Keep aside on a plate.
Add more oil to pan and fry chicken pieces for 3 minutes on each side until golden.
Place cooked chicken pieces on an oiled (or sprayed) oven tray.
Place a slice of fried brinjal on each chicken piece, then tomato.
Dot basil leaves on top.
Grate Cheddar all over (lots). Grate a little Parmesan over if you have some.
Grill in the oven (under the grill) for about 5 minutes.
Plate up your salad while the parmigiane are in the oven. Serve with not a potato chip in sight, or even hidden underneath.
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