Schnitzels

AS a kid, I always thought the schnitzel was the archetypical Namibian dish. Whenever we dined out, which admittingly was not all that often, I would order the schnitzel. I loved the crunchy texture of the bread coating above everything.

AS a kid, I always thought the schnitzel was the archetypical Namibian dish. Whenever we dined out, which admittingly was not all that often, I would order the schnitzel. I loved the crunchy texture of the bread coating above everything.

Often the schnitzel was pounded so thinly that it would be cooked in seconds and I wished someone would have told the chef that, for there are few meals as demanding to chew and challenging to swallow as schnitzel cooked until it is bone-dry.

I had a lot of those especially early on in life. So much, in fact, that I went schnitzel-less for a rather long period starting in my mid-teens and running well into my mid-20s. I would not admit to having been a fully radicalised anti-schnitzel activist, but I came close. Very close.

Much later, when I learned that most of the world’s cuisines contain the schnitzel in one form or another, did I start to take the dish more seriously. There must be something special about a dish that is to be found in cuisines as vastly different as Germany is from Japan, or France is from Mexico. Cutlets of meat breaded and fried form a golden thread that runs through Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa. Much of its distribution can be traced to colonialism, as is the case with our beloved Namibian schnitzel.

The schnitzel in the form that we know it today originated in Vienna, Austria, hence the name Wiener Schnitzel. The ‘proper’, authentic Wiener Schnitzel is made from cutlets of veal, pounded thin then dipped in flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs, and fried in butter or oil until golden in colour. The name ‘Wiener Schnitzel’ is trademarked, and the dish must be made from veal – no other kind of meat.

It is said that an Austrian soldier, Josef Graf Radetzky, commanding Austrian troops in Italy between 1831 and 1857, pinched the idea from a classic Milan dish called Cotoletta alla Milanese – a thick, bone-in veal cutlet, coated with breadcrumbs, and sautéed in butter. Back in Vienna the dish was modified and tweaked to its current form. The Milanese appear to have re-imported the Vienna option – thinly pound and without bone – as Cotoletta alla Milanese.

Yet another theory on the origins of schnitzel claimed it was the ancient Romans who first tenderised meat by pounding it, and they were also the first to apply breading to the meat before frying it. Evidence hereof is found in the oldest existing cookbook written by Apicus and dating back to the 1st century. Among this school of thought were thus the Romans who introduced the dish to the Germanic countries.

Much has happened to the schnitzel since those early days. It is no longer a veal dish, other types of meat are used. Pork (schweine-schnitzel), chicken (hänchen-schnitzel) and even turkey (puten-schnitzel) have become popular meats for making schnitzels. According to the legislation protecting the trademark, these cannot be called Wiener Schnitzel (as it is not made from veal) but should be announced as Wiener Art – schnitzels in the Viennese style.

Second, schnitzels have also evolved over time through the addition of sauces, toppings and fillings. Some of these should be well-known to Namibian schnitzel afficionados:

• Jäger-Schnitzel (Hunters schnitzel): Schnitzel with mushroom sauce.

• Zigeuner-Schnitzel (Gypsy schnitzel): Schnitzel covered in a sauce of red bell peppers, onions, tomato paste, ketchup and chicken broth. This schnitzel is also called Paprika-Schnitzel (Bell Pepper schnitzel), Schnitzel Balkan-Art (Balkan-style schnitzel) or Schnitzel Budapester Art (Budapest-style schnitzel).

• Käse-Schnitzel (Cheese-melt schnitzel): A schnitzel covered in melted cheese.

• Rahm-Schnitzel (Cream schnitzel): A schnitzel covered in a cream sauce seasoned with lots of cracked black pepper. Mushrooms are often added too.

• Schnitzel Holstein: A schnitzel from Berlin topped with a fried egg, onions, and capers.

• Cordon-Bleu: Everyone’s favourite Swiss schnitzel. It is a schnitzel stuffed with ham and cheese.

• Parisian Schnitzel: A schnitzel from France, made without breadcrumbs. The thinly pounded cutlet is simply dipped in flour and egg before being fried until golden.

• Münchner Schnitzel (Munich schnitzel) requires the cutlet to be treated with some mustard or horse radish before its coating is applied.

Given its popularity, it is not surprising that schnitzels also became popular fillings for sandwiches and burgers and have thus been converted into street food. Our own popular schnitzel brötchen is a good example of this.

The technique for making different types of schnitzels is not dependent on the type of meat that is used, as long as it is pounded until thin. It is common to use fine breadcrumbs but the courser varieties (e.g. panko breadcrumbs) used for Japanese style Tonkatsu are just as delicious. It is a matter of personal preference.

I have made and enjoyed schnitzels made with local venison and they were great. Maybe we could develop something from a cut of venison like oryx or zebra and offer that as our contribution to the world of schnitzels. That and a special sauce, of course. Something that will make us stand out among the culinary display cabinet of schnitzels, or as a friend once said: ” n lang en laat sien sous’.

Mahlzeit!

Oryx Schnitzels

Ingredients:

• 6 Oryx sirloin steaks, trimmed of silverskin and sliced about 1 cm thick

• 1 cup flour

• 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil

• 2 cups breadcrumbs

• 1⁄4 cup milk

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