Cutlet

/ˈkʌtlət/ noun

Definition

A thin slice of meat that's usually breaded and fried, or sometimes a flat cake made from chopped meat or vegetables.

Etymology

From French 'côtelette' (small rib), which comes from 'côte' (rib) + '-ette' (small). It traveled through European cuisines and entered English in the 1700s as a culinary term.

Kelly Says

Cutlets are brilliant examples of how food names travel and transform—what's a 'schnitzel' in German, a 'milanesa' in Spanish, a 'cotoletta' in Italian, and a 'cutlet' in English are all basically the same dish. Each culture adopted it and named it something that made sense in their language, but the technique and concept stayed identical for centuries.

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