Hot chicken is a spicy fried chicken dish that originated in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s a local specialty that has become an iconic food representing the city’s culinary scene. This article provides a comprehensive guide to hot chicken – its history, preparation, variations, and how it became a Nashville tradition.
A Brief History of Hot Chicken
Spicy fried chicken has been served in Nashville’s African American communities for a long time, but the Prince family is credited with making hot chicken what it is today.
The story goes that Thornton Prince III stayed out late one night. When he got home, his girlfriend at the time made him a breakfast of extra spicy fried chicken to punish him for staying out late. Thornton didn’t let that stop him. He loved it so much that by the mid-1930s, he and his brothers had perfected their own spicy chicken recipe and opened BA BBQ Shack cafe.
Thornton’s great-niece, André Prince Jeffries, has run the current establishment called Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack since 1980. Even though the components largely stay the same, each restaurant has its own preparation process that’s kept secret.
In the last few decades, hot chicken has become incredibly popular. There are now over twenty places in Nashville that serve it, and the trend has spread to cities all over the US and the world.
How Traditional Hot Chicken is Prepared
While recipes vary, traditional Nashville hot chicken starts with chicken that’s brined in buttermilk. This imparts flavor and keeps the meat moist when fried.
The chicken is then dredged in spiced flour before frying. The spice blend usually contains cayenne pepper and other warm spices like paprika and chili powder.
Hot chili flakes or powder are mixed with chicken fry oil to make the famous spicy paste. The spices stick to the fried chicken because of the oil. In the traditional way, the paste is put on the chicken right after it has been fried, while it is still very hot.
So what sets hot chicken apart? It’s the spicy paste paired with the fried chicken that gives it distinction from dishes like buffalo wings. The paste can range from mild to extra hot depending on preference.
The Ideal Hot Chicken Experience
Hot chicken is served on top of plain white bread slices to soak up the spices. Pickle chips are the customary accompaniment to help balance the heat.
Ideally, you’ll eat hot chicken fresh from the fryer when the spices are most potent. Leaning over the plate as the aroma overwhelms your senses – this is all part of the experience!
The chicken comes in levels of spice labeled mild to extra hot. If trying for the first time, mild or medium is recommended. But those who love spice should go for hot or extra hot to get the full effect.
Be warned – hot chicken is not for the faint of heart! The spicy cayenne paste sets your mouth on fire, so come prepared with plenty of water or drinks on hand.
Regional Variations to Try
While the classic preparation remains the most popular, some spots put their own spin on hot chicken:
- Hot fish – Spicy fried catfish or whiting filets
- Dry rubs – Spice rubs applied before frying instead of wet paste
- Flavored oils – Oils infused with herbs and garlic to fry the chicken
- Additional spices – Extra kick from peppers like ghost or habanero
- Saucy – Tossing the fried chicken in spicy sauce
So if you want to experience the dish in different forms, explore the scene and try out various hot chicken renditions.
Why Hot Chicken Became a Nashville Tradition
Beyond the taste, hot chicken is deeply rooted in Nashville’s culture:
- Long history in African American communities as part of local foodways
- Storytelling – Tales of its origin enhance the experience
- Local pride – Seen as an authentic Nashville food that locals identify with
- Music industry influence – Iconic for musicians synonymous with the city
- Community – Beloved by residents; restaurants feel like neighborhood joints
- Spice – Appeals to Southern palates that enjoy flavorful, spicy foods
- Local celebrity – Endorsements from politicians, musicians, chefs, etc.
Through a mix of tradition, celebrity influence, and appeal, hot chicken has become an iconic dish representing the spirit and flavor of Nashville.
How Hot Chicken Went Global
While hot chicken originated in Nashville, the city’s music connections helped catapult its popularity worldwide:
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Musicians discovered hot chicken when traveling to Nashville to record and perform. They spread the word when returning home.
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As Nashville’s music scene exploded, so did hot chicken’s visibility and status as the city’s signature dish.
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Celebrity endorsements from music stars on social media made hot chicken even trendier globally.
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Hot chicken shops started popping up from Seoul to Melbourne, adapting flavors for local cuisine.
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Chains like KFC latched onto the trend, rolling out Nashville hot chicken nationally and abroad.
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Tourism and an influx of new residents has led hot chicken restaurants to thrive in Nashville.
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The city now hosts the annual Music City Hot Chicken Festival to capitalize on its status.
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Hot chicken will likely continue to expand its reach as Nashville’s culture exports grow worldwide.
While firmly rooted in its hometown, hot chicken’s future seems as fiery and widespread as the dish itself thanks to Nashville’s culinary ambassadorship.
Why Hot Chicken is a Must-Try in Nashville
When visiting Music City, hot chicken should be on the top of any foodie’s must-eat list. Here’s why it’s a can’t-miss experience:
- A true Nashville original with roots in the city’s history and culture
- The range of heat levels allows you to personalize the experience
- Restaurants have signature styles; comparing variations is fun
- Perfect for rewarding your tastebuds after exploring Nashville’s country music scene
- Grab hot chicken from a no-frills joint for an authentic local dining experience
- Spice up a bachelor/bachelorette or birthday weekend celebration
- Satisfy hunger pangs late-night after honky tonkin’ at the bars
- Provides delicious Nashville memories to savor long after you leave
Hot chicken is more than a meal – it’s a chance to truly taste the flavor of Nashville. Don’t leave the city without trying this scorching local specialty!
So next time you’re in Music City, follow your tastebuds to the nearest hot chicken shop. Come ready to feel the Nashville heat.
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Over the past 80 years, Thornton Prince’s hot chicken business has wandered through black Nashville. The first BBQ Chicken Shack sat at the corner of Jefferson Street and 28th Avenue, near Tennessee A&I’s campus and just down the street from Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church.
From the beginning, the restaurant was an unusual place. It was not the Princes’ primary source of income. Thornton had a farm. His brothers worked for the post office or at other restaurants.
“It was just a little substitute to try to get over,” Andre Jeffries tells me. “Try to get some more bills paid. ”.
Since they had other jobs, they opened the restaurant after their workday ended and they stayed open later than any other restaurant in town: midnight during the week and until 4 a. m. on the weekends.
“That’s one tradition that I try to keep, being open that late,” Jeffries says. “It’s grown on me. I’m a night owl now. ”.
Because the restaurant was a late-night place, Jeffries and her siblings didn’t grow up eating there.
“My father would bring it home and put it on the stove on Saturday night,” she remembers. “When we’d get up on Sunday morning getting ready to go to Sunday school and then to church, I’d always see that little greasy bag on the stove. Hey, we were tackling it because he wouldn’t bring more than one or two pieces, and that would make us mad. ”.
The Chicken Shack moved downtown into Hell’s Half Acre after a few years. It was close to the Ryman Auditorium, which was once home to the Grand Ole Opry.
“When he drove to the Opry on Saturday nights, he could smell something really wonderful but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from,” said Lorrie Morgan, the country singer and daughter of George Morgan, a Country Music Hall of Famer who was a regular on the Opry stage from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, in the cookbook “Around the Opry Table.” One night, he tracked the smell to the BBQ Chicken Shack. He loved the food and the hours. Pretty soon, the Opry stars were headed there after every performance.
Segregation complicated the restaurant’s new popularity. The Princes needed a place to seat their white celebrity clientele without alienating their black customers. They constructed an ingenious compromise. They built a separate room for their white guests, but it was at the back of the building. Whites walked through the main dining room and the kitchen to reach it.
“It was quite a nice room. … We sat out front on these benches,” Jeffries says as she rubs an unpadded white booth that looks like the church pews I grew up sitting in. “I don’t know how old these benches are, but I remember them when I was a child, and I’m almost 70 years old. ”.
“Black people have never been segregated from the Caucasians,” she continues. “Caucasians separated us. … As far as segregation is concerned, that is a Caucasian problem. ” She claps her hands together and shakes her head. “Have mercy!”.
The BBQ Chicken Shack was in the middle of the Hell’s Half Acre urban renewal project. The Princes relocated. Their new space was too far from town. They moved again and picked a block building at 17th and Charlotte, which is in the middle of a black neighborhood north of downtown. It sat “just about where the Krystal’s is,” Jeffries clarifies for me.
By the time Thornton Prince opened his restaurant, segregation governed Southern life.
Reconstruction had seemed to offer African-Americans new opportunities. Black men got the vote, and a handful were elected. Schools opened, educating children and adults alike. People hoped for land ownership and fair wages. But when the federal government gave up and violent groups like the Ku Klux Klan fought back, white Southerners were able to “redeem” their communities. Jim Crow laws hardened the divisions between blacks and whites, making inequality part of the legal code. Lynchings, riots, rapes and other attacks terrorized black communities. A lot of people left the area, hoping that living in Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles would be safer and more profitable for them. Others fled the countryside for Nashville and the other cities of the upper South.
Jefferson Street gave black Nashvillians places where they could shop, eat, learn and worship safely. Thanks to these new migrants, the area around Jefferson Street continued to grow and prosper. In 1912, the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial and Normal School — now Tennessee State University — moved there. That same year, the city built Hadley Park, the first park blacks could use. Restaurants, music venues and speakeasies opened. Country music dominated white Nashville’s music scene, but Jefferson Street became an important haunt for jazz and blues musicians. The Ritz Theater let African-Americans watch movies without having to climb into a segregated balcony. Motels and hotels gave travelers options. Similar districts grew up at the heart of the black neighborhoods in East and North Nashville.
But the city developed a “pyramid” zoning code, which meant that land was zoned according to its perceived value. Property zoned for residential use was of higher value, and so it was protected from the incursion of commercial interests. Property zoned for commercial or industrial use could be used for single-family dwellings, but at any point, a developer could come into the middle of the neighborhood and start building anything he or she desired.
Most white neighborhoods were zoned as residential areas. African-American neighborhoods were zoned as commercial and industrial properties.
In 1949, the city administration claimed 96 acres in Hell’s Half Acre. They justified it by saying they would rid the city of vice. The plat included six historic African-American churches, a business district, schools and other sites of community life. The city replaced the neighborhood with the State Library and Archives, a large office building, a six-lane parkway, terraced parking lots and green space. They announced that they would replace the rest of the neighborhood with a planned municipal auditorium and private development. Few provisions were made for the people who lost their homes.
There was “a view that Nashville had held for some time that suggested that one of the major problems with downtowns was people,” former Mayor Bill Purcell explains to me as we look out the window of his high-rise downtown law office. “That if you could eliminate the people, then the city would be successful. … They banned vices; they banned activities that they felt were detrimental to civic life, and they banned residential living.”
Urban redevelopment accelerated over the next several decades, and it bore down upon other black neighborhoods around the city. The 1954 Federal Housing Act offered to pay up to 90 percent of the cost if Nashville would raze unwanted buildings and replace them with superhighways. The city planners cleared the edge of East Nashville for a new interstate. They emptied another 400 acres for warehousing and industrial use. Another highway was routed through Edgehill, a lower-income, predominantly minority community. Black leaders began worrying that urban renewal would become “Negro removal.”
New suburban developments popped up just outside the city’s limits. The interstates proved to be effective walls between the new developments and the city’s centers. Neighborhood covenants controlled who could buy the houses, and so these areas were up to 98 percent white. Nashville grew increasingly segregated.
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FAQ
What makes Nashville hot chicken different?
Nashville hot chicken is distinct due to its intense spiciness, crispy exterior, and the use of a cayenne-based spice paste applied after frying. Unlike other spicy fried chicken, it’s not just about the heat; .
What is the original hot chicken in Nashville?
The original hot chicken in Nashville is credited to Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. It’s widely believed that Thornton Prince, who started the restaurant in the 1940s, is the originator of the dish, according to Wikipedia.
What is the meaning of Nashville hot chicken?
Nashville hot chicken is basically the Southern tradition of fried chicken mixed with a serious kick of heat from cayenne pepper and some no-joke hot sauce.