The story behind the recipe
The pork cutlet is featured in the "Canon of Polish Cuisine," published in 2019 at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, and is named "probably the most popular Polish dish." According to the same text, its career is "relatively recent," and during the PRL era, it was "a synonym of luxury."
The most frequently cited oldest recipe is "Pork Chops" by Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa from the book "365 Dinners for 5 Złoty" (first edition 1860). It reads: "Take a pork loin, that is, a cutlet: cut it so that there is meat by each bone, pound it well, salt it, pepper it, dip it in beaten egg, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and fry in hot butter or lard." The first cutlet was therefore bone-in, without flour in the coating, and fried in butter or lard. Ćwierczakiewiczowa advised serving it with "shallots," but she meant small onions, not the dessert.
In old Polish cookbooks from the 17th and 18th centuries, pork cutlets are not found. Culinary historian Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski reminds us that the belief that pork has always been a staple of Polish cuisine is a misunderstanding. The cutlet is most likely a Polish version of the Viennese schnitzel, which, according to legend, originates from the Milanese costoletta. In the 20th century, it became a dish of homes, canteens, and milk bars, and today it is still associated with Sunday dinner when served with potatoes and cucumber salad or cabbage.
Ingredients
Cutlets
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600 g boneless pork loin (4 slices about 1.5 cm thick)
Abroad: USA and Canada: boneless pork loin chops; UK: pork loin steaks; Germany: Schweinerücken / Schweinelachs (not pork tenderloin) - 2 pcs eggs
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2 tbsp (about 15 g) all-purpose flour (not necessarily)
Abroad: all-purpose flour; Germany: Type 405 -
80 g breadcrumbs (about 5–6 tablespoons)
Abroad: plain breadcrumbs; Germany: Paniermehl / Semmelbrösel - salt and freshly ground pepper
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100 g lard for frying (or clarified butter, added between batches)
Abroad: lard; Germany: Schweineschmalz; clarified butter: ghee / Butterschmalz - 250 ml milk (not necessarily, for soaking the meat)
Potatoes
- 1 kg potatoes
- 20 g butter
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2 tbsp (30 ml) chopped dill
Abroad: dill; Germany: Dill
Cucumber Salad
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600 g cucumbers
Abroad: USA: Kirby or Persian cucumbers; for long greenhouse cucumbers, peel and remove seeds -
200 g thick sour cream 18%
Abroad: sour cream; Germany: saure Sahne extra or Schmand - 1 tsp (about 6 g) salt
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) chopped dill
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice (or a bit of apple cider vinegar)
- sugar (a pinch, not necessarily)
Method, step by step
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Cut off the white membrane from the edges of the pork slices so that the cutlets do not curl in the pan. Rinse the meat and dry it very thoroughly with a paper towel. If you want, soak it in milk with salt and pepper for 2 hours or overnight, then dry.
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Pound the meat evenly to a thickness of about 7 mm. Place a folded towel under the cutting board: the board will not slide, and the pounding will be quieter.
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Peel the potatoes and set them to boil in salted water. Cook until soft, about 20 minutes.
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Cucumber salad: peel the cucumbers and slice them very thinly (remove seeds from large ones). Sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt, let sit for 10 minutes, then squeeze out the water.
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Prepare three plates: one with flour, one with beaten eggs, and one with breadcrumbs. Just before frying, salt and pepper the cutlets, coat them in flour, dip in egg, and coat in breadcrumbs, pressing them down with your hand.
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In a heavy skillet, heat the lard until there is about half a centimeter of it. Fry 1–2 cutlets at a time: first on high heat for 2 minutes on each side, then on medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side, until the coating is golden. Between batches, remove burnt crumbs from the pan and add fresh fat.
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Drain the fried cutlets on a paper towel.
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To the cucumbers, add the sour cream, lemon juice, dill, and a pinch of sugar, and mix. Drain the potatoes, drizzle with melted butter, and sprinkle with dill.
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Serve immediately: cutlet, potatoes with dill, and cucumber salad.
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