schnitzel Pavlišov — Pavlišov, Czech Republic

Schnitzel Pavlišov is, at its core, a breaded and fried pork cutlet: a thin slice of pork pounded flat, coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, and fried until the crust turns golden and crisp while the meat inside stays juicy. What sets the name apart is the place attached to it rather than any unusual step in the method. It is reported from Pavlišov, a village in the Czech Republic said to be linked to a schnitzel cooked and served on an unusually large scale as part of a local gathering. Beyond that association, the dish eaten day to day in the village follows the same pattern found across Czech kitchens. Pork loin or leg is sliced and pounded thin between sheets of plastic, seasoned with salt and pepper, then passed through flour, beaten egg and fine breadcrumbs in that order. It is fried in a shallow bath of hot fat until each side is deeply golden, drained briefly, and served promptly while the crust is still crisp, typically alongside potato salad or boiled potatoes with a wedge of lemon. This version leans on the cutlet being pounded thin and even across its whole surface, so it fries quickly and evenly, a detail the village's reputation for cooking the dish at scale is said to depend on, in contrast to thicker-cut schnitzels elsewhere that need longer, gentler frying to cook through.