I recently had the pleasure of trying a unique Yorkshire delicacy, the parmo, and I must say, I wish it was available everywhere. My curiosity for the dish piqued back in 2007 when I visited Middlesbrough.

Despite spending five days there, I never got around to tasting a parmo. Instead, my meals alternated between Sassari, a charming, now-closed Sardinian restaurant, and The Massala, an equally delightful old-school curry house. However, the intriguing concept of the parmo and its complex history have stayed with me ever since.

The parmo is essentially a breaded chicken cutlet that's deep-fried and topped with bechamel sauce and usually cheddar cheese. Interestingly, despite its name, there's no actual parmesan involved. It's actually a descendant of the American-Italian dish, chicken parmesan, previously reported by Yorkshire Live.

The creation of the parmo is credited to Nicos Harris, a Greek-American navy chef who was wounded off the coast of France during World War Two. After receiving treatment at a hospital in Middlesbrough, he decided to settle down in the industrial town in North Yorkshire.

Harris opened a restaurant in Middlesbrough called The American Grill, where he invented the parmo, drawing inspiration from the American-Italian chicken parmesan. This dish itself is a fusion of the aubergine parmesan from Southern Italy and the breaded chicken cutlet from Milan.

Whether Nicos' creation was a product of inventive genius or simply a result of not being able to find the right ingredients for a traditional chicken parmesan, we can't say. However, his dish, known as the parmo, has become a sensation in Teesside, with one pub, The Ship in Stockton-on-Tees, offering 27 different variations.

Despite its popularity in Teesside, the parmo remains largely unknown elsewhere. You might stumble upon it in a trendy cafe or at a hip food festival, but you're unlikely to find it in the takeaways or pubs of Todmorden. Inspired by Nicos, who may have been trying to recreate a taste of home in a foreign land, I decided to try my hand at making a parmo. Having previously made chicken parmesans from scratch, I thought, how hard could it be?

Aside from the hassle of cutting, pounding, seasoning, flouring, egging and breadcrumbing several chicken breasts, it wasn't too difficult. I must confess, I used a premade jar of bechamel sauce, a shortcut I vow not to take again. Traditionally, the parmo is deep-fried, but mindful of my expanding waistline, I've always avoided buying a deep fat fryer. If you baste your cutlets with enough oil, they'll crisp up nicely in the oven.

About 25 minutes into cooking, spoon on the bechamel and grated cheese (I opted for Red Leicester for its vibrant colour) and return to the oven until the cheese and bechamel start to bubble. A parmo is typically accompanied by chips and a side salad, which, after a night on the town, often finds its way into the bin untouched. Yet for those seeking a more refined experience, it pairs just as splendidly with roast potatoes or perhaps patatas bravas.

So what was the verdict from a parmo novice?

Initially, expectations were set for an unremarkable, downmarket take on a classic chicken parmesan. However, the reality was a revelation, prompting an astonished, "where have you been all my life? ".

The combination of crispy breadcrumb coating and succulent, flattened (courtesy of a rolling pin) seasoned chicken surpasses any kiev or schnitzel out there. The indulgent bechamel sauce, subtly infused with nutmeg, and a generous blanket of melted cheese transformed this simple breaded cutlet into a dish rivalling the finest chicken parmesans.

Admittedly, had I tried a hastily thrown together parmo from a less reputable takeaway in the Boro, my impressions might have been different. But when made with attention and care, the homemade parmos I created were nothing short of stellar.

There's a chance that the mere mention of 'Middlesbrough' or 'Teesside' in relation to the parmo could provoke some snobbery. Frankly, the area isn't famed for its gastronomic offerings. Nevertheless, this delightful gastronomic mishap deserves recognition far beyond Yorkshire, indeed across the whole of Britain.

Whether you’re a first-time buyer or an established property owner, the state of the UK housing market has been pretty grim in recent years.

And if you’re a young person, you’re probably rapidly losing hope of ever owning your own place. In 2023, just 28.4% of 35 to 44-year-olds (hello, Millennials) were on the property ladder, with the number decreasing even further for 25 to 34-year-olds at 20.1%.

Fear not: there’s a way you can become a member of the homeownership club for less than £50k. Nope, that’s not just the deposit average: it’s the cost of the entire home.

Want in? Head to Middlehaven in North Yorkshire, AKA the oldest part of Middlesbrough (or ‘Boro,’ as it’s affectionately known by locals). Here, the average property price is just £49,833.

The council tax won’t set you back too much, either. For a property fitting into this price band, it’ll cost £1,842.51 per year – cheaper than the UK average of £2,065.

Praised for being close to ‘fantastic beaches’ and ‘some of the best countryside England has to offer,’ Middlesbrough is near the mouth of the River Tees and just north of the North York Moors National Park. It’s home to just shy of 150,000 people (as well as the EFL Championship football team).

‘Middlesbrough is 10 minutes by car from fantastic beaches and roughly the same from some of the best countryside England has to offer,’ one local Reddit user with the name thereidenator wrote.

It’s supposedly a fantastic place to raise a family too, voted the third best in the UK in 2022, which assessed schools, safety, air quality, affordable childcare and crucially, affordable homes.

Analysing both the cheapest and most expensive postcodes to buy property outside the capital, the data was derived from MailOnline’s analysis of the Land Registry by the Online Marketing Surgery and Cardinal Steels.

In fact, the top four cheapest postcodes to buy were all in Yorkshire, comprised of Bradford (BD1), Middlesbrough (TS1) and Brambles Farm (TS3), all of which had averages under £85,000.

The cheapest postcodes to buy property outside London

Unsurprisingly, this is much cheaper than the UK average, which in January 2024 was £282,000 according to data from Gov UK. So, if you want to find digs in Middlehaven, you could do so for more than five times cheaper than the typical price. Bargain.

At the other end of the spectrum, Cobham (KT11) in Surrey came with the most expensive price tag outside London with an average of £1,395,369.

Another Surrey location was in third place, with a property in Virginia Water (GU25) costing an average of £1,281,660.

And of the top five, two were in Buckinghamshire, with Beaconsfield (HP9) in second place carrying an average of £1,308,331. Meanwhile, Chalfont Saint Giles (HP8) came in at a whopping £1,225,304.

Happy house hunting!

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After a picturesque North Yorkshire town hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons at the beginning of 2023, we thought it only fair to see if 11 months on, the saying rings true.

Skipton - which is under an hour-and-a-half drive from Middlesbrough - was dubbed 'Little Ibiza' by one of its newcomers - the headline painting a somewhat bemusing picture in the heads of the national press' readers. The cobbled streets so quaint under sunlight transformed into the famous Sunset Strip of the Spanish party island by nightfall.

It was claimed Keighley Road "boomed out club music every week" starting at 6pm and finishing at 3am and that "the nightclub takes this on until 5am", reports Yorkshire Live. It created an image of cavorting youngsters navigating their wobbly legs like Bambie as their heels slip and slide between the cobbled, uneven streets. Beer swilling louts pouring out of the historic, cosy pubs. Vomit swilling down the street and kebab meat dumped on the floor.

It was a comparison so wild it naturally caused a bit of a stir in the historical market town. So, now we're heading into 2024, we thought we'd pay "the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales" a visit with one question - are Skipton's partygoers are still causing a headache for a handful of its residents? Reporter Megan Banner found out more, here's what she had to say in her own words:

And it would appear, Skipton's happy residents have hit back at the negative connotations - agreeing it is a busy little place but one that is thriving and "always has something going on". They say that a little bit of liveliness at night is actually great for the community.

Lots of people visit Skipton, whether it's just passing, for a walk, to see its stunning castle or to venture round its quirky high-street full of independent shops, pubs, bars and restaurants. For me, and many others, it has got to be its thriving pub scene.

Skipton has 85 pubs and bars, according to TripAdvisor anyway. That's quite an impressive amount for a small town on the foot of the countryside.

With 85 places to eat and drink, you can imagine it gets pretty lively on a Friday or Saturday night. Despite it not being most people's first choice for a night out, over places like Leeds, the little North Yorkshire town actually has lots of venues to chose from and is known for how lively it can get on a weekend.

It has everything from cosy pubs with open fires to trendy bars - so you can party in Skipton no matter the vibe. It also has lots going on throughout the year which brings in literal coach-loads of tourists.

Samantha and Steph, who work in the Red Lion pub in Skipton, said: "Skipton is always busy, there is always something going on, so it's always busy. The pubs are packed most of the time, especially on a weekend.

"We have sheep day, medieval markets, Christmas makers, goats nativity, food markets, Artisan markets, all sorts. When they do something they close the main road off as well so it's just full of people and they all drink in the pubs. There is always something good going on which always keeps us busy and keeps customers coming in.

"It is such a community spirited town and I'm sure it was said to be one of the happiest places to live, its known as the gateway to the Dales, it's just a lovely place."

Bret Hepper, who was visiting from a nearby village, said: "We do come here [Skipton] sometimes to go to the pubs, we only drink in certain pubs like the wine bars. It gets very lively on an evening, we often visit because we only live in Settle down the road - we've been here many times."

Ann Taylor added: “I’m just visiting today, I only live down the road, but I visit often. It’s poor market wise today but I always come for shopping, to go to the supermarkets etc... but there isn’t really much else here.

“I don’t really come for the pubs but there are loads of pubs and restaurants here, people often come here do go to pubs and things it’s quite lively. It brings money into the town.”

As a tourist to Skipton I can say I have visited a few times to go to the pubs and have a wander around the idyllic little town, often on the way home from the Dales - I love the pubs, how warm and welcoming they are, especially in the winter with their open fires and total cosiness.

I love how spoilt for choice you are and in honesty I would much rather go to Skipton to drink in the pubs on a Saturday afternoon than I would go into Leeds. It won't be the last time I visit that's for sure.

As for it being comparable to a "mini-Ibiza", I think that's a bit of a stretch. You can certainly get your fill of booze and food in Skipton but the class of the punters mean it retains its charm whatever time of day or night it is.

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Today it is the largest town in North Yorkshire.

But in 1829, Middlesbrough was little more than a farm with 40 people. The following year, thanks to the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (SDR), it had a population of more than 2,000.

Now many people no longer consider Middlesbrough to be part of Yorkshire. But contrary to popular belief, the old County of Yorkshire was not abolished in 1974. Instead, it ceased to exist as an administrative county.

Read more: Nine Yorkshire woods and forests ideal for a spring walk

Middlesbrough was part of the shortlived county of Teesside (1968 to 1974) and then Cleveland which was abolished as a county in 1996. Even if other Tykes and indeed Teessiders disagree, Boro is a part of modern-day North Yorkshire.

Anyway, back to the history...

In 1829, SRD shareholder Joseph Pease and his Quaker business associates bought the old Middlesbrough farm and its surrounding 527-acre estate. The broad Tees estuary was ideal for exporting coal and later steel.

Middlesrough's first new house was built in 1830 followed by a grid system of houses and streets with a marketplace in the centre. By 1846, Middlesbrough had a town hall built by Doncaster architect William Lambie Moffat.

The historic old town called St Hilda's and north of the present-day town centre is today in a sorry state. The original streets were demolished during the 1950s slum clearances and replaced with social housing in the 1970s.

This housing was in turn demolished in the noughties leaving the old town hall surrounded by vacant land. The old town hall which was used as a library and community centre was closed by Middlesbrough Council in 1996.

Despite its grade II-listed status, this Italianate symbol of Boro's booming past has long been derelict. Middlesbrough Council has since secured £1.3m to stabilise the building and has bid for a further £2.5m to restore it.

By the mid-1870s Middlesbrough was producing a third of Britain's pig iron which earned the town its nickname 'Ironopolis'. By the turn of the 20th century, its population was around 90,000.

By 1914, steel manufacturer Dorman Long, founded in Boro in 1875, became the biggest company in Britain. The company produced steel for Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia and the New Tyne Bridge, Newcastle.

But the manufacturing industry in Middlesbrough went into a steady decline after World War Two, as it did in the rest of British towns and cities built on manufacturing. Boro has become one of the most deprived towns in Britain.

The town and the rest of Teesside have, however, been shortlisted to become one of 12 UK investment zones, outlined in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's spring budget. If successful, the area will receive £80m to kickstart its economy.

It certainly isn't the prettiest town but there's a surprising amount to do and see in the area, as YorkshireLive tourism writer Dave Himelfield discovered when he went there for a work course.

The Tees Transporter Bridge is Boro's most famous landmark. It's a grade II*-listed bridge straddling the Tees estuary. It's currently closed but should be back in action by the end of 2023.

Acklam Hall is a grade I-listed stately home about two miles south of the town centre. You can visit there for a steak or afternoon tea.

Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) is a purpose-built modern gallery for contemporary art in Centre Square. Across the square is the current town hall. This grade II*-listed late-Victorian town hall is well worth a visit.

And no visit to Boro is complete without sampling a parmo. Resembling the illegitimate offspring of the American-Italian chicken parmesan, it's a deep-fried chicken cutlet topped with cheddar cheese and bechamel sauce. The Oven Restaurant, on Linthorpe Road, is reputed to do a good version of this dish for which Middlesbrough is famous.

Middlesbrough has a surprisingly lively night scene, in part because of its large student population. Culturally, it's not exactly Barcelona but for an inexpensive night out you can do a lot worse.

Boro isn't far from the fabulous sandy beaches of Coatham, Redcar; Marske-by-the-Sea and Saltburn. The attractive old market town of Guisborough is 20 minutes away, as is Captain Cook's childhood home of Great Ayton and the North York Moors National Park.

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We Are Middlesbrough: Where do people think it is?

For the We Are Middlesbrough project, the BBC is spending a week focusing on the stories of the town. But where exactly is it?

It's a simple question but, as can be seen from the confusion above, the answer is about as clear as the once smoke-filled sky that gave the townsfolk their Smoggy nickname.

The area in which Middlesbrough sits has gone by numerous names - Teesside, Cleveland, Tees Valley and North Yorkshire - as local councils have been formed and abolished (about which more later).

But first, to appreciate the geography it is useful to have a grasp of its history.

Middlesbrough started as a Benedictine priory on the south bank of the River Tees, its name possibly derived from it being midpoint between the holy sites of Durham and Whitby.

By 1820, it had become a farm and hamlet with 25 residents surrounded by salt marshes and fields.

The thriving town at the time was Stockton, the terminus of the Darlington and Stockton Railway which opened in 1825 and carried coal from the Durham mines to be shipped out from Stockton's port.

But Stockton had a problem - it was too far from the coast.

The winding river to the North Sea could take seven days to traverse while newer, larger ships, were often unable to even get to port.

A spot closer to the estuary was sought and prominent mine owner Joseph Pease set his sights on the 500-acre farm of Middlesbrough.

Work began in 1829 and within two years the first port and workers' homes had been built.

The new town, initially called Port Darlington, was focused on a market square and town hall with four roads.

Subsequent streets were built on a grid basis as the town grew, like pieces being added to a giant jigsaw, according to historian Paul Menzies.

By 1841, Middlesbrough was home to 5,200 people, including large numbers of miners from Wales and Cornwall and labourers from Ireland.

In 1850, a new industry exploded with the discovery of iron ore in the Cleveland Hills overlooking the town, and "Ironopolis" was born, pioneered by industrialists like Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan.

Foundries and factories burst into being along the south bank of the Tees, and shipbuilding to rival that on the Wear and Tyne began.

Chemical firms sprang up on the north bank, swelling the populations of places like Port Clarence and Billingham.

The air would have been rent by a cacophony of noise, the night-time sky burning orange with the fires of industry.

Smoke billowing from the furnaces and chimneys turned the new buildings black.

Streets of terraced homes neighboured giant industrial units, an undesirable thought to modern house-hunters but a convenient commute for the Victorian worker.

New streets spread out over the farmland to accommodate all the new workers and their families, consuming villages like Linthorpe, Ayresome and Ormesby which had been listed in the Domesday Book.

Theatres, clubs, libraries and an opera house opened and in 1876 the town's football club was founded.

At one point there were more than 100 pubs in the town centre alone, and large parks were created to offer havens among the hubbub.

In 1862, with the town barely 30 years old, Prime Minister William Gladstone visited, nicknaming Middlesbrough the "Infant Hercules".

Why is Middlesbrough not a city?

Despite the best efforts of its dignitaries, Middlesbrough remains a town.

It applied to become a city in 2000, 2002 and 2012, but lost out every time.

City status is granted by the monarch and though it offers no extra powers, it is seen as a providing prestige.

Traditionally a city would have a cathedral but now there are no formal requirements and city status is usually granted to coincide with a royal anniversary.

However, rapid expansion meant cheap homes which in turn led to slums and associated problems such as cholera.

"It was a tough place," says Mr Menzies.

"Especially for those first settlers, there were no roads, no hospitals.

"It was a town of immigrants, it had to be, and there were clashes between communities.

"But it was a place they were all proud of; it was a dream being made reality."

By 1889 the population was 79,000, almost double that of Stockton.

Pioneering bridges were built, first the Transporter in 1911, and then Newport Bridge in 1934, England's first vertical lifting river crossing.

But by then the decline had started, the town's fortunes having peaked in 1913 with firms like Dorman Long being global leaders in steelwork.

After World War One, a drop in the need for the materials Middlesbrough manufactured, coupled with cheaper competition from abroad, saw the town's fortunes plummet.

By the 1930s, unemployment in Middlesbrough was twice the national average as companies that had once employed thousands collapsed and closed.

Getty Images

The slums were cleared with new estates created at Acklam and Whinney Banks, and old industries were replaced with new ones in the digital and engineering sectors.

Middlesbrough still has a port and is home to a number of museums, parks, art galleries and Teesside University.

So that is "what" Middlesbrough is. But to go to the bottom of "where", we must provide a short history of local government.

The town was run by its own councils, first the Middlesbrough Municipal Borough, then Middlesbrough County Borough, from 1853 to 1968, when it merged with councils in Stockton and Redcar to become the County Borough of Teesside with a total population of 398,000.

So Middlesbrough was in Teesside.

But in 1974, surrounding areas such as Saltburn and Guisborough joined to form Cleveland, which governed until 1996.

So Middlesbrough was in Cleveland.

But in 1996 it was governed by its own unitary authority again, Middlesbrough Borough Council.

So Middlesbrough is in Middlesbrough?

Yes, and no.

It is also covered by the Tees Valley Combined Authority, a partnership of Middlesbrough and four other councils to "drive economic growth and job creation" formed in 2016.

So Middlesbrough is in Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley?

Yes, and no.

It is also the largest town in England's largest ceremonial county - North Yorkshire.

So, finally, in answer to the question "where is Middlesbrough?": Middlesbrough is in the council borough of Middlesbrough, the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire and the Tees Valley authority area.

And that's about as clear as we can make it.

Have you got a question about Middlesbrough you would like us to answer? You can use the tool below to submit your suggestions.

If you are reading this page on the BBC News app, you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question on this topic.

For more information about We Are Middlesbrough follow #BBCWeAreMiddlesbrough on social media. You can also email us wearemiddlesbrough@bbc.co.uk