Austria’s national dish just might schnitz on cotoletta

I’ve eaten a wide variety of “schnitties” in my life. From the little country or regional pub in Australia, to the local RSL club, right through to small cafes on the side streets of major city centres. 

I also go ‘fancy’ quite often and take my schnitty eating up a notch by dining on the premium “cotoletta’s” served in fine diners across Australia.

In Melbourne Cecconis in Flinders Lane does a cracking one. In Sydney Devine or Le Foote (until a recent bad choice to remove their customer favourite from the menu) do great ones.

In Brisbane 1889 Enoteca in Woollongabba, not far from the esteemed cricket pitch of a similar name, also once cooked up a cracking cotoletta but sadly it has now gone the way of Sydney’s Le Foote version. 

You get the picture; I don’t mind a schnitty or a cotoletta. 

Not sure what it is about them. Basically, the schnitty can come in a few forms – chicken, beef, pork, turkey or veal and all cooked in varying degrees of oil and butter, fried and with either thin or thicker style batters. Experts say the batter makes all the difference. 

I’m thinking of all these things and more, as I wander along the ancient cobblestone streets of the picture perfect Salzburg in Austria on my way to a restaurant that many claim as having the world’s best schnitty.

For some reason my stomach is filled with butterflies in anticipation of the moment ahead. Will it live up to the hype? Can Austrian schnitty really be so much better? What makes them so good?

The entry to Meissl & Schadn Salzburg befits a temple of this revered lightly battered protein – glass doors lead off the Main Street and after a short ascent up a stairway (not all the way to heaven but close) you enter a stylish, contemporary space where waiters dressed in elegant white suits and black bow ties meet you graciously and genuine warmth.

Welcome to the centre of the schnitty universe. This is Austria and (for the moment) we’ve left the cotoletta behind. It’s a long way from the dust and asthma-inducing, pollen-filled Summer air of Albury or Wagga Wagga from where Lunch Magazine hail.

Once seated we’re handed the menu despite there being little doubt about what we are going to eat. The Weiner special is the epicentre of this restaurant and while the menu is quite extensive, it seems that almost everyone in the restaurant goes for the same thing. 

And little wonder.

Interestingly, in Vienna’s airport they say they have an area designated for travellers who mistakenly think they are venturing to Australia not Austria. Bizarre but true. Yet while one of those nations is landlocked and European and the other an antipodean island, we share more in common than the similarity in names… our joint love of the schnitty.

Actually, I take that back – the Austrians live for their schnitties. The esteem in which they’re held is almost religious. It’s their national dish.

As for the schnitty we’re poised to order… it comes, according to my superbly attired waiter, with my choice of side Potato salad/mayonnaise salad or cucumber salad/parsley potatoes. All with a side of wild cranberries and a Viennese garnish of parsley, capers, a hard-boiled egg and anchovies. He explains with a knowing smile, that to do it justice you have them all.

Our table all nod in agreement. Crisp Austrian beers arrive and tantalise the taste buds in preparation of the main event.

Prior to its arrival I ask my now waiter friend of the Schnitty origin story.  He explains the best-known legend is that a gourmand Austrian general discovered the Italian dish cotoletta alla milanese (‘Milanese veal cutlet’) during a battle in the late 19th Century. It goes without saying he loved it so much that once back in Vienna, he ordered his cooks to whip up their own version, and the Wiener Schnitzel was born. 

So, there you go, it’s Austrian via Italy. It’s served with (parsley) potatoes, a slice of lemon and lingonberry jam. Sometimes potato salad, some like to serve it with peas as well. Anything other than that is, as mentioned, a near federal crime.

And for a guy who thought cranberry sauce was mostly eaten at Christmas with an overcooked Turkey on a hot Summer’s day, I’m proven wrong here at Meissl & Schadn. Those abovementioned cranberries go down a treat.

The gorgeous open salon kitchen is described as having the “characteristic Schnitzel pounding echoes like music through the two-storey restaurant and Salzburg’s old town” and it is absolutely true – the thumping notes of veal being tenderized with brutal care provide an appropriate soundtrack.

 When the meal arrives the taste is absolutely incredible. Wonderfully cooked, a light almost fluffy batter embraces a piece of veal that is just a delicate, mouth-filling symphony of flavour and delightfulness. The sides are each little heroes on their own with the potato salad off the charts good, the garnish of parsley, capers, hard-boiled egg and anchovies just so tasty – salty, bursts of flavour at every bite.

The size of the schnitty is legendary. It sits proudly and widely across a full large plate. The sides come, well, to the side. There is one star here and it shows. 

This is a legendary restaurant at a legendary address serving legendary schnitties. 

If you’re in Salzburg, just get there. If not, just go there.