Nashville Hot Chicken Joins Nationwide 'Local' Cuisine Trend

Nashville Hot Chicken on Tour

Philly cheesesteak, Key lime pie, Chicago deep dish; some regional dishes are so universally irresistible that they simply can't be contained to the provinces of their birth. One of the newest regional favorites making its way across the country is Nashville hot chicken.

Hot chicken has been on many a southerner's radar for a number of years now, but the dish and derivations of it have popped up on the menus of no fewer than three national chains and many more independent eateries across the country, with eateries from New York1 to Los Angeles2 paying homage to the down-home classic. But what is Nashville hot chicken? Where did it come from?

History of Nashville Hot Chicken

Hot chicken traces its origins to a Nashville restaurant that's still considered the most authentic source of this unique poultry preparation in the world, Prince's Hot Chicken Shack,3 now located in a humble strip mall six miles north of the city's Downtown.

The original batch of hot chicken was supposedly concocted in the 1940s by the girlfriend of John Thornton Prince. Prince, a notoriously promiscuous rambler, had spent one too many nights away from home. Fed up with his infidelity, the woman whose identity is unfortunately lost to history cooked a batch of chicken she hoped would be so unbearably spicy that it would serve as punishment for Prince's rowdy ways.

Her plan backfired. Either her recipe wasn't extreme enough or Prince had a superhuman tolerance for heat. Whatever the case, Prince loved the new dish so much that he set about the business of developing a recipe he could share with the masses, serving it for the first time in a restaurant he founded with his brother in 1945 called Bar-B-Que Chicken Shack.

Prince's great-niece, Andre Prince Jeffries, inherited the restaurant in 1980 and shortly thereafter changed the name to the version we know today. In 1989, Jefferies moved it to its current location, and she continues to run the restaurant to this day.

What Makes Nashville Hot Chicken Different?

Whether that origin story is rooted in fact or not, hot chicken has been at the center of the Nashville culinary scene for decades. A number of clones have popped up over the years aiming to capitalize on the popularity of the dish. None have reached the legendary status of Prince's, but most every short list of places that serve truly authentic Nashville hot chicken nowadays includes Hattie B's,4 Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish,5 and 400 Degrees.6

So what exactly makes Nashville hot chicken different from its similar spice-laden cousins? The traditional recipe starts with chicken quarters marinated in either a brine solution or buttermilk to tenderize the meat and impart a richer flavor. The chicken is then coated in a spicy breading and fried, traditionally in a cast iron pan, though most restaurants now opt for a more manageable deep fryer made for larger scale cooking. While the chicken is still hot out of the fryer, it's slathered in a tongue-torching paste that's traditionally made with lard and copious amounts of cayenne pepper and other spices, topped with pickles, and served to the customer on a piece of white bread.

Nashville Hot Chicken's Popularity

Nashville hot chicken became popular enough to be co-opted by several national chains. Among those, the most significant by far is KFC, which took its version of Nashville hot chicken nationwide in 2016. A recent social media boom has led to a resurgence in demand for KFC's version of the dish.7

O'Charley's entered the hot chicken game recently as well. A Nashville-based chain, it opted to turn the city's signature dish into a chain-friendly breast filet sandwich served on a brioche bun over a bed of coleslaw and topped with the obligatory pickles. This dish accompanies fried green tomatoes, farmhouse chopped steak, and Savannah crab cakes on the restaurant's revamped "Southern Comforts" menu.8

Burger King has recently introduced a Nashville hot chicken sandwich – but only in Canada.9 In the US, Burger King offers a spicy "Ch'King" sandwich instead, which is similar without warranting the name. The Nashville hot sandwich has bright red coloring, a distinctive characteristic associated with Nashville-style chicken.

Nashville hot chicken isn't setting the world's tastebuds on fire anymore, but the tasty dish gained enough traction over the years to remain a staple option on many different menus across the country. Regional cuisine is fertile ground for national chains and independent restaurants alike to draw inspiration for their own dishes. Menu item R&D is expensive and time-consuming,10 and the return on investment isn't always stellar, so as long as our United States culinary landscape remains diverse, we'll occasionally see local favorites like Nashville hot chicken get their 15 minutes of fame on the letter boards of restaurants in cities far from home.

References

  1. Peaches Hot House. BC Restaurant Group. Accessed January 2022.
  2. Howlin' Ray's Hot Chicken. Howlin' Ray's. Accessed January 2022.
  3. Prince's Hot Chicken. Prince's Hot Chicken. Accessed January 2022.
  4. Hattie B's. Hattie B's. Accessed January 2022.
  5. Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish. Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish. Accessed January 2022.
  6. 400 Degrees. 400 Degrees. Accessed January 2022.
  7. KFC's Nashville Hot Chicken Sales Are Suddenly Surging. Business Insider. Accessed January 2022.
  8. O'Charley's Unveils New Southern-inspired Menu. Business Wire. Accessed January 2022.
  9. Burger King Canada's New Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich. The Takeout. Accessed January 2022.
  10. Why Fast Food Chains Spend Years Working on Their Next Big Menu Item. Thrillist. Accessed January 2022.