A ''cordon bleu'' or ''schnitzel cordon bleu'' is a dish of meat wrapped around cheese (or with cheese filling), then breaded and pan-fried or deep-fried. Veal or pork ''cordon bleu'' is made of veal or pork pounded thin and wrapped around a slice of

ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...

and a slice of cheese, breaded, and then pan- fried or baked. For chicken ''cordon bleu'', chicken breast is used instead of veal. Ham ''cordon bleu'' is ham stuffed with mushrooms and cheese.

Name

The French term is translated as "blue ribbon". According to

Larousse Gastronomique ' () is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many ...

, the ' "was originally a wide blue ribbon worn by members of the highest order of knighthood, L'Ordre des chevaliers du Saint-Esprit, instituted by

Henri III of France Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke o ...

in 1578. By extension, the term has since been applied to food preparation to a very high standard and by outstanding cooks. The analogy no doubt arose from the similarity between the sash worn by the knights and the ribbons (generally blue) of a cook's apron."''Larousse Gastronomies'', completely updated and revised. New York: harry Potter, 2001, p. 340.

History

The origins of cordon bleu as a

schnitzel A schnitzel is a thin slice of meat. The meat is usually thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer. Most commonly, the meat is breaded before frying. Breaded schnitzel is popular in many countries and is made using veal, pork, chicken, mutt ...

filled with cheese are in Brig, Switzerland, probably about the 1940s, first mentioned in a cookbook from 1949. The earliest reference to "chicken cordon bleu" in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' is dated to 1967, while similar veal recipes are found from at least 1955.

Variants

There are many variations of the recipe involving cutlet, cheese, and meat. A popular way to prepare chicken cordon bleu is to butterfly cut a chicken breast, place a thin slice of

inside, along with a thin slice of a soft, easily melted cheese. The chicken breast is then rolled into a

roulade A roulade () is a dish of filled rolled meat or pastry. Roulade can be savory or sweet. Swiss roll is an example of a sweet roulade. Traditionally found in various European cuisines, the term ''roulade'' originates from the French word ''ro ...

, coated in bread crumbs, and then deep-fried. Other variations exist with the chicken baked rather than fried. Other common variations include omitting the bread crumbs, wrapping the ham around the chicken, or using bacon in place of ham. A variant popular in the

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

province of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

is ''cachopo'', a deep-fried cutlet of veal, beef or chicken wrapped around a filling of Serrano ham and cheese. In Spain, a version made usually with just two slices of ham and cheese, although it can also be found with chicken or pork loin added, is often called ''san jacobo''. A common variant in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

is the ''milanesa rellena''. It consists of two beef or chicken fillets passed through beaten egg, later, stuffed with cooked ham and mozzarella cheese and superimposed like a sandwich. Once this is done, they are again passed through beaten eggs and breadcrumbs, to be fried or baked. It is usually served with ''papas fritas'' (French fries) as a garnish. In largely Muslim-populated countries,

halal ''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with '' haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification k ...

versions of chicken cordon bleu are also popular: the chicken is rolled around beef or mutton instead of pork product.

References

{{Portal bar, Food, Switzerland American chicken dishes French cuisine Swiss cuisine Breaded cutlets Chicken dishes Pork dishes Veal dishes Culinary Heritage of Switzerland Culinary terminology Baked foods Stuffed dishes

Name

History

Variants

See also

References