Parmo or Parmesan is a popular food dish primarily sold in take aways throughout North East England, especially popular in Middlesbrough, where it originated. Its original name was 'Escalope Parmesan' and is made from pork meat or chicken and is served both as a restaurant meal and a take-out snack, often accompanied by chips and a choice of salad, coleslaw or creamed cabbage.

The Parmo was created by Nicos Harris, a chef with the American army in World War II. He was wounded in France but was brought to the United Kingdom to be treated in a British hospital. Eventually, he moved to Middlesbrough and opened a restaurant on Linthorpe Road where he created the Parmo at The American Grill in 1958.

His son-in-law, Caramello, still lives in Teesside and continues the family tradition.^[1] The Parmo is somewhat similar to the veal or chicken Parmigiana which is commonly eaten in Italian restaurants across the world.

In 2009, Asda started selling parmo in their shops in Teesside. They claimed they were selling 6,000 chicken parmos a week, making them at the time the shop's fastest selling line. Asda is currently considering selling them in other shops.^[2]

Contents 1 Cooking style 2 Nutritional Information 3 TV Appearance 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Cooking style

Making a Parmo involves deep-frying a flattened chicken or pork fillet in an egg and breadcrumb batter, then smothering it in thick Bechamel sauce before topping off with cheddar cheese (the original Parmos were topped with Parmesan cheese, hence the name) and then grilling or baking in the pizza oven. Originally veal was used but later this was replaced by pork. In more recent times chicken became more popular as more Muslim-owned takeaway restaurants opened.

An increasing number of take away outlets have started using processed chicken instead of real chicken breast, presumably to keep costs down. Parmos made with processed chicken are generally recognised to be inferior in quality to those made with chicken breast.

The Parmo is generally available in two sizes and terminology varies between outlets:

• Large or full Parmo
• Half or regular Parmo (sometimes known as a "ladies' parmo")

Parmos are also served with the addition of toppings. In 1993 Teesside man Neal Aberdeen asked Gi-Gi's takeaway to add some pepperoni to the topping before cooking, following which local takeaways added a variety of "topped Parmos" to their menus. They are usually named after pizza toppings, tend to vary from shop to shop. Common toppings include:

• Parmo Hotshot - Chicken or Pork, topped with cheese, pepperoni, peppers, garlic butter and chili
• Parmo Kiev - Chicken only, topped with cheese and garlic butter
• Parmo Italia - Chicken or Pork, topped with cheese, garlic butter and ham, with a further topping of mozzarella cheese
• Meat Feast Parmo - Chicken or Pork topped with pepperoni, chicken and ham

A Great Ayton pub also cooks a vegetarian version:

• Nichola Marina Vegetarian Parmo - A vegetarian version of the parmo created by Charlie Constantine and named in honour of his late daughter, who was a vegetarian^[3]

The full Parmo is usually served in a pizza box along with its chips/fries and side order due to its large size, though a large round polystyrene tray is also common.

[edit] Nutritional Information

In 2007 North Yorkshire Trading Standards conducted a survey of 25 fast food dishes. A large Parmo with chips and salad contains approximately 2600 calories and 150g of fat.^[4]

[edit] TV Appearance

• The Parmo appeared on ITV's Saturday Cooks on 15 December 2007, and was cooked by Antony Worrall Thompson, with guidance from Tamsinne Hatfield who originally brought the recipe to the attention of the chef.

• The Parmesan appeared on Channel 4's Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue programme on 14 October 2009 from the Kenbarry Hotel/The Blackpool, Blackpool where Ruth described it as 'the anti-Christ of cooking'

• The Parmo was the subject of a question in the TV quiz show Eggheads on 13 November 2009. In the final round, when asked the region from which the Parmo originates, the challenging team incorrectly answered East Anglia, in preference to North Wales and the correct answer Teesside. The incorrect answer given meant that the Eggheads won that particular day's contest. Ironically for the show, Teesside was misspelled 'Teeside'.

[edit] See also

• Parmigiana
• Wiener schnitzel
• Chicken fried steak

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Boro Parmo - Teesside's Famous Delicacy
• Parmo - The Parmo Recipe
• Saturday Cooks recipe
• Parmo King - Reviews, Merchandise
• Teesside recipe
• Chicken Parmesan
• Parmo: Teesside's fast food sensation, BBC Inside Out – North East, 11 June 2007
• April Fool Evening Gazette article about the "history" of parmo