What Schnitzel Is . . . . And Is Not

Having enjoyed several fantastic schnitzels in Vienna this past December, this N.Y. Times article immediately caught my eyes today.

The NYT's Melissa Clark writes that the secret to marvelous schnitzel is

to trap air in the crust when you cook the meat by moving and shaking the pan. After dipping the veal in flour, egg and bread crumbs, he put a cutlet in the skillet, swirling it so the hot oil undulated over the cutlet in waves. This motion creates steam that lifts the crust away from the meat, allowing the bread crumbs to crisp without sticking to the veal in a gummy mass.

BTW, I must mention that as much as I enjoy eating hot dogs, I was appalled to see that some hot dog-focused restaurant franchise actually named itself Wienerschnitzel. How dare they? That would be enough to keep me from going there.