Podcast 17 – Chicken Parm – The Dish Americans Love and Italians Loathe

Besides spaghetti and meatballs, no other dish is as wildly popular as Chicken Parmigiana, or chicken parm. This comforting meal can be found in every pizzeria and red sauce joint in the New York metro area but is also available across the country at various chain restaurants. Chicken parm is so synonymous with Italian-American food that many may find it hard to believe it is almost impossible to find anywhere in Italy. So where exactly does chicken parm come from? Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/S8HsBpid8Do Chicken parmigiana, also known as chicken parmesan or just chicken parm combines thinly sliced breaded and fried chicken cutlets with tomato sauce that's topped with mozzarella cheese and baked until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and lightly golden. It's loved by all...well, at least by those here in the US. Chicken parm, while synonymous with Italian-American food, does not originate in Italy and the Italians who are aware prefer to deny its existence and may even find it offensive. In this episode, we explore the origins of chicken parm, how it stems from melanzane alla parmigiana, also known as eggplant parm, and its importance to the Italian-Americans who proliferated its popularity. We discuss its ingredients, how it's made, and variations such as our layered eggplant and chicken parm. Most importantly, we pay respect to a dish that's often looked down upon for seemingly no good reason. We're not ashamed to say we love chicken parmigiana! Resources Sip and Feast Chicken Parm Recipe How to Make Chicken Milanese How to Make Pasta Bolognese The Story Behind Chicken Parmigiana The Origins of Chicken Parm Have Nothing to Do With Chicken Legacy of Chicken Parmigiana The Untold Trust of Chicken Parmesan Chicken Parm and spaghetti and Meatballs are not Real Italian Food If you enjoyed the Chicken Parm episode, leave us a comment below and let us know!   We love your questions.  Please send them to [email protected] (remove the 11111 for our contact).  There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page. Transcript Intro James (00:00):Welcome back to the Sip and Feast podcast. Today we're going to talk about chicken parmesan or chicken parm. This is everybody's favorite, I would think, especially if you're listening to this content. Before we get into that, I just want to let you know that we're going to be uploading the podcast either on Monday or Tuesday. Now, we're going to leave it to you to tell us which would be your preferred day. Those are the only two choices you have. That's it, but it could be morning or at night. Also, for all your questions, email us at [email protected]. Why should you like it? (00:32):So before we get into it, I just want to sell you on why you should like chicken parm, why you should be thinking about chicken parm the way we think about chicken parm. Chicken parm really simply is a breaded cutlet that is fried, never baked. It has a delicious sauce. Often it's a fresh sauce, mozzarella cheese melted on top of it.