I love Eggplant Parmigiana. And chicken, veal, and any other parmigiana. But in my entire misbegotten life, any such dish I’ve ordered is generally laden with *mozzarella *cheese, not parmesan (or parmigiana). What gives? Is this some sort of cross-cultural mistranslation? Or do the two cheeses have different names in different languages? Or am I mistaken in believing that “parmesan” and “parmigiana” are the same thing, but in two different languages? In any case, it’s driving me IN-SANE!!!
And it should have some parmesan cheese in it. The ‘huge pile of melted mozzarella with a sliver of chicken in it’ style is completely Americanized.
“Parmigiana” simply means “from Parma,” so there’s no real reason to think a dish named “Parmigiana” necessarily has Parmesan cheese on it. That said, according to the Wiki link (and from what I understand), it’s a southern Italian/Sicilian dish, and appears to be a corruption of the word parmiciana. At any rate, some versions do have Parmesan cheese, some have pecorino, some have mozzarella, some have a combination.
For the same reason swiss steak doesn’t have any swiss cheese.
And Bourbon Chicken hasn’t got any bourbon in it, either.
I feel like the kid who just got told there’s no Santa Claus… 
Ah, but chicken marsala most definitely has marsala. Strangely enough, however, chicken Kiev contains no Ukrainians.
And chicken cordon bleu contains no blue ribbons.
Do I want to know about my Kit-Kat bar? :eek:
And Girl Scout cookies…?
This is one of the most depressing threads I have yet encountered here.
I was thinking that Parmesan cheese isn’t on Veal/Chicken Parmigiana for the same reason that there are no bears on a barefoot contessa.
For the same reason that what is sold as crabmeat is actually factory made, and “beef” tacos are actually made with vegetable/soy protein.
The fact is lying is endemic to American advertising-you can call something by another name, and unless someone calls you on it, you are OK to go.
There’s usually a bit of Parmesan cheese in the breading, right?
No, those are made with real Girl Scouts.
And let’s not even start on shepherd’s pie or cottage cheese.
And hamburgers? shameless.
The recipe I follow at home to make chicken parmigiana calls for some small token amount of the stuff in the breading mix. It didn’t seem like enough to make any sort of real impact on the recipe, frankly. Delicious dish, though.
What is even funnier-Veal Parmegian often contains NO veal!
It usually is some cheap cut of beef-that has been pounded to death, in an effort to tenderize it.
Might as well try to eat an old shoe sole.