Hungarian food recipes – Breaded pork cutlets: the Sunday lunch

On high days and holidays, most Hungarians’ preferred choice for the midday meal is a breaded meat dish. What is simply referred to as rántott hús (breaded meat), is actually closely related to the well-known Wiener Schnitzel. The only difference is that the Hungarian version is made with pork rather than veal. Coating food with breadcrumbs is so popular a method in Hungary that it is also used with fish, cheese, and vegetables, as well as different kinds of meat.

This cooking method actually dates back to the Danubian monarchy, to which Hungary once belonged. While marching through Italy, Field Marshal Count Josef Radetzky (1766-1858) wrote to Emperor Franz Joseph not just of military events, but also to tell him that the Milanese coated escalopes in breadcrumbs before frying them. This recipe was immediately tested at the Viennese court, and soon it had spread throughout the rest of the empire. However, the Italians were not the originators of this cooking method, but copied it from the Spanish – who in turn had adopted it during their Byzantine expeditions.