It has roots in southern Italy, but a name from the north. The name Parmesano means a dish from the city of Parma, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy (according to Wandering Italy). Chicken parmesan began a long time ago with eggplant parmesan in Campania and Sicily in Italy. The eggplants are fried and then cheese and tomato sauce are added.
At times, cooks in North America and other regions of the world with large populations of Italian immigrants realized that chicken would be an excellent alternative to eggplant and that's how chicken parmesan was born. When Italian immigrants in the 20th century were able to get chicken cheaply in the United States, they began breading and frying the chops and using the technique of eggplant alla parmigiana with mozzarella or provolone cheese to create chicken parmesan, as Chicago diners know it. The reverse engineering of chicken parmesan to its basic components reveals the truth behind its origins. Originally from the Italian neighborhoods of the East Coast, chicken parmesan eventually spread to restaurants and published cookbooks from the 1950s.
You've likely seen chicken parmesan on Chicago menus almost every time you've been to an Italian restaurant. In the Old World, Italy, before the Italian Diaspora, the large scale emigration of Italians from Italy to the United States, proteins such as chicken were not widely available. But what is chicken parmesan? Is it the same as chicken parmesan? And do you know how to pronounce chicken parmesan? Salerno's Pizza, which makes some of the most popular chicken parmesan in Chicago and the surrounding area of Romeoville, has all the answers to your questions about chicken parmesan. Parmesan chicken or Parmesan chicken are the same delicious and delicious dish that you know well and love.
As such, the prototypical Parmesan chicken was actually made with breaded and fried eggplant slices instead of chicken for a dish called Melanzane alla Parmigiana. In fact, hop on a time machine for foodies that goes to pre-20th century Italy, and chicken parmesan would be as out of place as chicken satay. These newly created Italian-American home cooks not only devised unique dishes based on what was available, but they also incorporated existing recipes into the meat-focused menu of the new world, transforming many classics into newfound creations, including chicken parmesan.