Where does the Wiener Schnitzel really come from? There is much speculation about this. When can it be called a Wiener Schnitzel or a Viennese-style schnitzel? What does the schnitzel have to do with Field Marshal Radetzky?
The Schnitzel, actually a simple meat dish, is probably the most famous dish of Viennese cuisine whose origin is not supposed to lie in the former capital and residence city, but originated in the southern neighboring country Italy , although historians today deny this.
Nevertheless, the Italian origin reads quite interesting: meat as well as fish baked in bread dough is a southern tradition that is still maintained in Italy and here especially in Venice, but also in Dalmatia (former coastal country, now Croatia). In the Levant, too, gratinated meat dishes were already known in past centuries.
According to an anecdote, General Field Marshal Radetzky introduced this dish at the Viennese court in 1857 . As it were, as the epicurean “spoils of war” . Another version regarding the Italian origin refers to Lombardy, more precisely to its capital Milan, where the“Scaloppa Milanese”, i.e. the Milanese escalope , was “invented”, so to speak.
According to the current state of historical research, neither corresponds to the facts. The Viennese Schnitzel is definitely not an Italian invention, but originates from the imagination of local cooks. In the cookbook of Marianna Lindau from 1801, the Schnitzel from the Kalsbsschlögel is “inverted in a verklepperten Ey, sprinkled with flour and slowly baked out of the lard.” (Julia Danielczyk, Isabella Wasner-Peter eds., “Heut muss der Tisch sich völlig bieg`n, Wiener Küche und ihre Kochbücher).
With this written document, the domestic origin can be considered certain. Another historically well-founded incident is that the future Emperor Franz Joseph I and his brother Ferdinand Max were pronounced lovers of the Viennese specialty in their youth.
To this day, the Wiener Schnitzel is the favorite dish of Austrians, whether large or small. It should be noted that this can only be the original Viennese Schnitzel made from veal, while a Viennese-style Schnitzel can also be made from pork or chicken. Whereas the latter is usually called chicken schnitzel.
Time Travel Tip: In Vienna there are many opportunities to try the Wiener Schnitzel. The largest schnitzels are offered at Figlmüller in Wollzeile and Bäckerstraße. Very close to Time Travel you can find the Reinthaler Inn.
Highly priced and very good, it can be enjoyed at Meissl and Schaden, Oswald and Kalb, or Meierei in Stadtpark. Meixners Gastwirtschaft, Gmoakeller, Zum Alten Fassl promise home-style cooking on a high level. An inexpensive insider tip is the Gasthaus Kopp in Brigittenau near the Millenniumtower.
