Nashville's Hot Chicken Restaurants Are an Unrivaled Culinary Delight
We’re talking about fried chicken‚ Nashville-style. Even the mild is hot‚ and the extra hot is‚ well‚ blazing‚ searing‚ eye-popping and sweat-inducing.
“There’s just nothing like it anywhere in the world. It is a unique Nashville food not available anywhere else on the planet‚” says former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell‚ who left office in September 2007. “Once you’ve had it‚ you understand that it’s both different and better than any other food.”
And he’s not kidding. Purcell is a hot-chicken aficionado who is spotted frequently at Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack‚ the granddaddy of the city’s hot-chicken emporiums.
Located north of downtown off Dickerson Road‚ Prince’s dates back to the 1940s. Other hot-chicken outlets include 400° and Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish. Yes‚ fish.
Nashville hot-chicken lovers leave the little wings and drummettes for the Yankees up in Buffalo.
A hot-chicken serving is either a leg and thigh or a breast and wing‚ fried to a crispy brown in a cast-iron skillet and served atop two slices of white bread. Pickles speared with a toothpick provide the garnish. Purcell‚ a regular at Prince’s for 30 years‚ describes the bread‚ sopping with the chicken’s grease and spices‚ as “kind of like dessert.”
While the former mayor recommends sides of french fries and coleslaw‚ he stresses that “it’s really all about the chicken.”
While the spice recipes are closely guarded secrets of the individual restaurants‚ cayenne pepper and paprika are generally acknowledged ingredients. For Purcell‚ the hotter the better.
“It’s a hot chicken shack. I know they have other temperatures available‚ but if you want that‚ you should go to a medium chicken shack or a mild chicken shack‚” he quips.
Purcell’s hot-chicken ardor prompted Nashville’s first Hot Chicken Festival‚ which was held July 4‚ 2007‚ as part of Celebrate Nashville‚ months of festivities recognizing the city’s 200th anniversary.
“I admit that the festival was my idea‚” he recalls‚ “but it was one of those ideas that was so good‚ everyone immediately understood that we should do it.”
