So is it a Chicken Parmi or a Chicken Parma?

So there is this hugely popular dish eaten by many Australians –  a crumbed chicken breast with a nice tomato and garlic sauce on top sprinkled with a thick layer of parmesan cheese, then put under the grill and often served with chips and salad.

The question is this – what is this delicious pub and club staple actually called?

According to research done recently by Arnotts, before the release of their new Shapes flavour,

34 percent of those surveyed nationally call it a Parma, 45 percent call it a Parmi / Parmy and then there is 21 percent who call it something else entirely. However in Victoria  there is a strong preference for Parma with 64 percent of those surveyed preferring this to the 20 percent wanting to have it known as Parmi / Parmy. Interesting 50 percent of those surveyed in the Northern Territory do not want it abbreviated at all and prefer Chicken Parmigiana (they also do not want Parma at all).

Ok, so whether it is a Parma or a Parmi/Parmy is obviously still open for debate and it also looks like that depends upon where we are.

Surely we can at least agree on how to spell the whole name?

The research shows that 45 percent of people surveyed are spelling it different ways and 11 percent are way more interested in how it tastes than how to spell it. The following are some other ways that people are spelling it; Parmigana, Parmegiana, Parmegana and Parmajana

Ok, so we seem to be more interested in the taste than the spelling. So does everyone know what is actually supposed to go into making the perfect Chicken Parmigiana?

In the Arnotts research the people were asked what are the essential ingredients and beside the crumbed chicken, tomato / garlic sauce and parmesan cheese, the following were the responses;

Ham (34%)

Tomatoes (22%)

Bacon (16%)

Eggs (10%)

Red wine (4%)

Broccoli (2%)

Of those surveyed in the Northern Territory 50 percent said that having an egg on top was the right way to serve it.

So how popular is this menu item?

The research showed that just under a quarter of Aussies eat at least two Chicken Parmigianas a month and over a quarter of those Victorians involved in the survey have chosen this pub favourite as the meal they want first when they get out of the COVID lockdown.

So the other big question is –  where did this obvious Aussie favourite originate from?

It started as a baked type dish in Italian immigrant families in the North Eastern states of the USA around the 1950s.