Milanesa

Milanesa, Spanish for Milanese, is a form of breaded cutlet mainly associated with the Southern Cone and the Rio de la Plata region, known throughout Latin American cuisine but closely tied to Argentina, where it is considered a quintessential national dish. It is a derivative of cotoletta alla milanese, an Italian dish from Milan using a breaded, butter-fried bone-in veal rib, brought to Argentina through Italian immigration; Argentine milanesas are typically made with lean boneless beef, though chicken, pork, fish, and vegetarian versions using eggplant or legumes are also common, and Argentines are estimated to consume an average of three milanesas weekly, totaling 300 million kilograms annually, with a popular variant called milanesa napolitana topped with tomato sauce, ham and melted cheese.