Hello there! I'm Anna, I'm Italian, and I've been a self-proclaimed parmigiana connoisseur since birth.
Yep, that's two-year-old me devouring a parmigiana.
Back in Italy, my nonna makes the absolute best parmigiana. It's a must for Sunday lunch, so I would say I know a thing or two about them.
That's my grandma Anna, Mother of Parmigianas, preparing another ginormous portion of the dish.
Or, well, I thought I did, until I came to Australia and realised... Aussie parmigianas are a THING.
Except, they're nothing like Italian parmigianas.
Chicken...?
You see, Italian parmigianas are made with fried sliced eggplant, mozzarella, and tomato sauce.
I'm drooling already.
In Australia, a parmigiana (or parmie) is a piece of crumbed and fried chicken breast, topped with a tomato sauce and cheese.
I KNOW, RIGHT?!
In order to become a full parmigiana expert, I decided to try some Australian ones, too.
I was all kinds of suspicious.
For my first, I went for an all-classic, sauce and cheese parmie.
The stakes were high.
And... it wasn't my favourite.
The chicken wasn't very well-seasoned, and the crumbing wasn't very crispy. The toppings didn't really stick to the actual chicken. So... not really my thing.
I wasn't too impressed after my first parmie, but I knew I had to give it another chance. So, off I went to the next pub.
This parmie even told jokes.
Surprise surprise, this baby came with ham!
This parmie was stepping up the game.
And... It wasn't too bad!
The sauce wasn't overly seasoned, and I think they used actual mozzarella as a topping?! This parmie was a keeper. I actually finished it.
As I ordered my third parmigiana of the week, I started to feel like I was actually betraying my home country...
This one even had a garlic sauce on the top. Do not order it on a date.
But IT TASTED SO GOOD.
This parmie had taken it upon herself to prove my first impressions were wrong.
If there's anything I learned from this experience, it's that weird, Italian-inspired food combinations can actually be tasty.
Who knows, maybe I'll even try Hawaiian pizza one day.
Just... don't call them "traditional Italian dishes".
Travel was provided by Tourism Australia. BuzzFeed writers do not guarantee coverage.
