An Ode To The Humble: Chicken Parmigiana...Australia's Best Pub Feed

There's not a lot of dishes that Australia can call its own like the Italians do with pizza or the Japanese do with sushi.

We celebrate the likes of a sausage sizzle, Fairy Bread, Vegemite on toast and Tim Tams like they are going out of fashion.

But there's nothing we love more at the pub than a goddamn chicken parmigiana.

While schnittys have a special place in our hearts, a parmi/parma just hits different.

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For the uninitiated, the dish involves a delicious chicken breast that is breaded to within an inch of its life, deep fried, lathered with a stunning tomato-based sauce and topped with melted cheese.

Every pub and restaurant will do theirs slightly differently. Hell, some places will even be dedicated to doing parmis/parmas and nothing else.

You can get them with avo on top, or dripping in chilli. Some like to whack some bacon in there, while others prefer eggplant. You can double it up, or keep it classic and simply.

It truly is a gift from the culinary gods.

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Despite the meal originating in the US thanks to Italian immigrants, it wasn't long before it made its way to Australia in the 1950s. It took an agonising three decades for it to become a staple at the pub.

Food historian and author Jan O'Connell told the ABC: "That was as a restaurant dish rather than in the pub. I'm guessing it started to become a pub meal in the 1980s. [But] you won't find chicken parmigiana in any Italian cook book."

Last year, LADbible Australia readers labelled it the best pub meal in the country, further cementing it in our country's culinary history.

We had 16 meals that you'd typically find at the pub, which ranged in sizes from a bit peckish like a bag of Salt and Vinegar chips or ribs, to the large and in charge hearty orders like a beef burger and steak.

The four meals to make it to the semi-final were the parmigiana, the steak, the beef burger and fish and chips. It was a final showdown between the parmi/parma and fish and chips, however the chicken based meal was victorious.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie