It is traditionally prepared with a veal rib chop or sirloin bone-in and made into a breaded cutlet, fried in butter.

[2] Due to its shape, it is often called oreggia d'elefant in Milanese or orecchia d'elefante in Italian, meaning 'elephant's ear'.

[7] Further evidence dates to around the 1st century BC indicating that the Romans enjoyed dishes of thin sliced meat, which was breaded and fried.

The dish was first called côtelette révolution française (Italian: cotoletta rivoluzione francese, lit.

[12] Various breaded meat dishes prepared in South America, particularly in Argentina, were inspired by the cotoletta alla milanese brought by Italian immigrants and are known as milanesa.