Parmo, or Teesside Parmesan, is a dish originating in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, England, and a popular item of take-away food in the Teesside area as well as

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

. It consists of a

breaded cutlet Breaded cutlet or braised cutlet is a dish made from coating a cutlet of meat with breading or batter and either frying or baking it. Breaded cutlet is known as ''schnitzel'' in German-speaking countries, '' cotoletta'' in Italy, '' escalope'' ...

of chicken or pork topped with a white béchamel sauce and cheese, usually cheddar. The name is a reference to the American dish

chicken parmesan Chicken parmesan or chicken parmigiana () is a dish that consists of breaded chicken breast covered in tomato sauce and mozzarella, Parmesan or provolone. Ham or bacon is sometimes added. The dish originated in the Italian diaspora in the ...

, which is made with

tomato sauce Tomato sauce (; ; ) can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes. In some countries the term refers to a sauce to be served as part of a dish, in others it is a condiment. Tomatoes have a rich flavor, high water content, s ...

and

mozzarella Mozzarella is a Types of cheese#Semi-soft cheese, semi-soft non-aged cheese prepared using the ('stretched-curd') method with origins from southern Italy. It is prepared with cow's milk or buffalo milk, taking the following names: * or mozz ...

, which is itself a derivation of the Italian ''melanzane alla parmigiana''. In an April 2019 survey, parmo ranked 20th in Britain's Top 20 Favourite Takeaways.

History

Origins

Parmo was created by Nicos Harris, a Greek American navy chef. He was wounded off the coast of France, and brought to the United Kingdom to be treated at what is now

James Cook University Hospital The James Cook University Hospital, formerly known as the South Cleveland Hospital, is a public tertiary referral hospital and regional major trauma centre in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England with 1,046 beds. It forms part of the South ...

, Middlesbrough. He stayed in Middlesbrough and opened a restaurant, The American Grill, on Linthorpe Road, where he created the parmo in 1958. His son-in-law, Caramello, still lived in Teesside as of 2007, continuing the family tradition.

Supermarket sales

In 2007-2008, Teesside business man Geoff Johns started the Jeff the Chef company to make and sell "cook-chill-reheat" parmos, which are baked and then blast-chilled, before being packaged up for sale through supermarkets and other commercial outlets. Initially serving a few local shops, the product was quickly taken up by supermarket chain

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

, and by July 2009, Asda were selling 6,000 a week in the Teesside region. In a profile of Jeff the Chef in 2017, it was stated that the company employed 20 staff at the Skippers Lane Industrial Estate in Middlesbrough, and they were making 10,000 parmos a week, to supply around 100 stores in

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

, including Asda,

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

, the Co-op, and some independents.

Application for PDO/TSG status

During his successful 2017 election campaign for Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen promised that he would work to get the parmo protected status. "It's a key part of our local culture and we should be proud of Teesside and the things we produce". An application for official recognition of the parmo as a traditional speciality in the UK was submitted in July 2021. To qualify for the TSG ( Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) label, a food must be of "specific character" to differentiate it clearly from similar products, and its raw materials, production method, or processing must be "traditional" (which is defined as "proven usage on the domestic market for a period that allows transmission between generations; this period is to be at least 30 years").

Appearance on ''MasterChef''

On 8 March 2018, one of the contestants on the BBC cooking programme ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'' prepared a parmo for the competition. Anthony O'Shaughnessy used

panko Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cut ...

breadcrumbs and extra mature cheddar cheese, and accompanied the dish with spicy beetroot ketchup (for heat, spice, sweetness), and pickled red cabbage coleslaw (for crunch, sharpness).

World Parmo Championships

A light-hearted celebration of the parmo, the World Parmo Championships started with an inaugural competition in 2007 in Stockton. The championships ran annually until 2016, after which there was a two-year gap. The 2019 edition saw 30 restaurants compete before the live "parmo-off" between the final four at the Middlesbrough Town Hall. The winner was the Borge Italian restaurant from

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

, taking their fourth consecutive first place.

Nutritional information

In 2007, North Yorkshire Trading Standards conducted a survey of 25 fast food dishes. A large parmo with chips and salad they tested contained about 2,600 calories and 150g of fat.

References

External links

April Fool ''Evening Gazette'' article about the "history" of parmo
*{{cite news , url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/welcome-to-the-magical-mystical-world-of-parmo/ , title=Welcome to the Magical, Mystical World of Parmo , magazine=

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

, date=29 August 2014 , first=Natalie , last=Hardwick Breaded cutlets English cuisine Fast food Food and drink introduced in 1958 Yorkshire cuisine Deep fried foods British chicken dishes British pork dishes Cheese dishes