Yum-O! Hot Chicken is unique to Nashville. In fact, Nashville even has a festival to celebrate it...check out my link on the left! While I missed out on the festival this year, my co-workers and I headed down to the hood (literally!) today to pick up what our taste buds had been craving.
The place we go is called 400 Degrees. I'll admit, this place isn't in the best section of Nashville. Despite the bars on the flame-covered windows, you'll find all types of people inside. From blue-collar workers to CEOs, they are all there because they just can't get enough! Here you can get your chicken at 0 Degrees, 100 Degrees, 200 Degrees OR 400 Degrees. I only get the 100 Degrees. It's enough to make my nose begin to run. But it is OH SO GOOD! It's served with pickles (to take the bite away) on top of white bread to catch all that grease. And a side item of course. Here's how a friend described the different degrees:
100 is slight spicy. You can taste some spice but you’re not going to send your colon into a fit. 200 is pretty darn hot, it’s considered medium but it will light a fire under you. 400 is suicide… I’ve never tried it and I like hot food.
To give you a better idea about hot chicken, here's some info from the Hot Chicken Festival Website:
How to eat hot chicken
by Jim Myers (The Tennessean / April 2005)
If all this fuss about hot chicken has triggered a Pavlovian response, then you already have committed to heart the rules for eating fire. For you neophytes preparing to embark on a strange journey of pain and pleasure, here are some words to eat by.
• Prepare to wait, five to 10 minutes if they're not busy and have a batch in the skillet, or upwards of 45 minutes. It really does take at least half an hour to skillet-fry chicken right.
• Don't drink carbonated drinks. The fizz just kicks up the heat. Try lemonade or water, instead.
• If you think you want hot, start with medium. If you think you can handle medium (which at most places is plenty hot for the average diner), go for mild. If you want extra hot (called atomic at Hotchickens.com), have your head examined or go watch Altered States.
• Wash your hands well, with soap and water, before you touch any part of your body.
• Save the grease-stained white bread for end. The Japanese have a name for the taste beyond sweet, sour, salty, hot. They call it umami, and if they had hot chicken, they would surely call the bread at the end ichiban umami: the best, most satisfying taste of all.
After halfway through my hot chicken, I thought I would take a photo...so I'll leave you with two...the first picture is chicken at 100 degrees and the second picture is at 200 Degrees...please notice the difference in color in the two (and the grease running down my friend's finger!)
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