Without getting into an authenicity tangle, I think one has to accept that similar concepts span cultures and continents. I think the average person thinks of the breaded thin cutlet as Schnitzel. The nekked version, often pan-sauced, is referred to as Naturschnitzel. Which then takes you down the rabbit hole of dishes like veal scaloppine. Taking us over to Asia we find the deep fried pork cutlet- tonkatsu; generally not as thin but very crispy.
So...the Wienerschnitzel of my Austro-Hungarian influenced youth is a simple pounded piece of veal, pork, or chicken which is pan fried in oil after a classic flour, egg wash, bread crumb treatment. I never got the USA tradition of cold fried chicken at picnics until I flashed back to my youthful stealthy forways into the fridge to eat cold Schnitzel leftovers.
A piece I found interesting was Melissa Clark's about trapping the air between the meat and coating to yield succulent flesh contrasted with a shattering crisp crust. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/dining/03appe.html We did, depending on the cook often get a too greasy leaden crust that peeled right off- not appreciated.
My food tastes have changed over time and it is not something I would want to cook anymore, but I will be a happy voyeur for nostalgia's sake.
