Hot chicken is all the rage in Nashville today. But just how hot is it?
My son-in-law Clay and I have been hassling each other over hot food ever since he first started dating our daughter. Clay, Tasha, Peggy and I had gone out to a steak house in Sacramento, California and ordered prime rib. Normally, the restaurant served a mild horseradish cream sauce along side. This time, for whatever the reason, it didn’t.
“Can we have a side order of horseradish cream sauce?” I had asked our waiter.
He had brought it out, straight up, no cream. I slathered it on my prime rib. Clay, watching me, had done the same thing. I took one bite and thought ‘Holy Ghost Pepper!’ as it burned all the way down to my toes. I quickly scraped it off. I didn’t mean to hide my action from Clay, but he didn’t see me do it. He just kept nonchalantly chewing away and all I could think was, ‘He is one tough dude.’
This went on for a while as perspiration broke out on Clay’s forehead and his eyes began to water. Suddenly he threw down his fork.
“You’re the man,” he declared. “How can you eat that stuff?”
We all had a good laugh when I confessed, but it established a tradition. Whenever Clay comes to visit, I take him out for the hottest food I can find. (The girls stay as far way from this activity as possible.) Last time we went to the India Palace, my favorite Indian restaurant in southern Oregon. Clay insisted on ordering the food one notch hotter than I did.
Of course what goes around comes around, right? So whenever Peggy and I visit Clay and Tasha in Tennessee, Clay introduces me to his latest mouth-burning find. He outdid himself this time. “Google Nashville hot chicken and pick out a restaurant,” he suggested to me as he scooted off to his job as a regional manager for Verizon. I was soon up to my ears in hot sauce.
The legend is that Thornton Prince was having girlfriend problems back in the 1930s. He had too many. Girlfriend number #1 decided on revenge. She secretly dumped several extra tablespoons of cayenne pepper on Thornton’s chicken when he came in late one night. The effort backfired. Prince loved it. In fact he loved the hot chicken so much he opened a restaurant featuring it.
The restaurant quickly became a gathering place for the local African American community. When white musicians playing at the Grand Ole Opry heard about the chicken, they started visiting as well. This was still the era of segregation, however. The whites had to come through the back door and eat in the kitchen. Seventy years later the restaurant is still serving up its signature dish. Everyone goes through the front door now.
Today, Nashville is renowned for its hot chicken. There are several restaurants present, and my sense is that they vie with one another over who can produce the hottest food. I should note here that I like hot food. I developed the taste when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Liberia, West Africa where I started out as a one-pepper person. By the time I left, I had worked my way up to three. Since then I have continued to increase my tolerance for hot.
But in the world of hot peppers, there is hot and there is HOT. Two blogs ago I wrote about how my father-in-law, John Dallen, was concerned about the Naga headhunters of Nagaland when he had to bail out of his airplane in World War II. Well, as it turns out, I just learned the Naga are also renowned for raising Bhut Joloki peppers (ghost peppers), which happen to be among the hottest peppers in the world. John was wise not to eat what the local natives offered.
To provide a perspective on how hot these peppers are, consider the following. Pepper heat is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU). Your typical jalapeno pepper checks in at around 4000 SHU. Habanero peppers are measured at 80,000 to 600,000 SHU. The Bhut Joloki pepper normally tests out between 500,000 and 1,500,000!
I doubted I would be eating any fried chicken infused with Bhut Joloki peppers on my Nashville excursion, but I still entered the Pepperfire restaurant with a touch of trepidation. I’d read the reviews and seen the menu. My choices ranged from mild to XX hot. The Internet description had said that either the X or XX will “jump on you and grab you.” I wasn’t sure what that meant. But how could it be good?
The menu listed the various levels of hot. The Pepperfire website had informed me that “hot” was painful for most.
I was out with Clay, however, so I had to man-up. I went for chicken leg/thigh combo on the X level. Since I was in the south, I also ordered fried okra. Clay ordered XX chicken wings with French fries. For dessert we ordered a waffle that was topped off with hot chicken tenders and fried apples.
Just looking at this chicken quarter says hot. It reeks hot. You can see the flames. It was served on top of white bread, whose purpose is to soak up the grease.
A close up of the okra. Eating it gave me that ‘old boy’ feeling. Just call me Bubba.
Clay’s hot chicken wings. It was the third one over from the left that bit me.
Dessert: a waffle topped by chicken tenders topped by fried apples. It was definitely unique— make that a tad weird.
When the food arrived, I picked up one of Clay’s chicken wings. Maybe it would make my food seem cool in comparison. I bit down. The damn chicken bit back. I smiled at Clay. “This really tastes good,” I managed to get out as my tongue turned into a pretzel, my throat screamed “water!” and my stomach proclaimed, “you idiot.” Only its words weren’t quite that polite. I will say that the chicken was tender and juicy, and that there were spices other than hot that were quite tasteful.
Did it make my chicken seem cooler? No way. Once you get beyond hot, you are beyond hot. Those are my words of wisdom for the day. Within two hours, Henny Penny was waging the mother of all wars in my stomach. It was a triple burn day. The chicken burned on the way in. It burned inside. And it burned on the way out. Enough said. Now I have to start planning for the next time Clay comes to Oregon.
All joking aside, if you are in Nashville and want to try the city’s famous (infamous) hot chicken, I recommend checking out the Pepperfire restaurant.
Wandering through Time and Place 
Love the trick you played on Clay at first, even though it was an evil deed. But the rest of the story — how you two continue to out-hot each other is amazing. If this manliness, I’m really glad to be a woman!! Hats off to you iron-tongued guys!
I know, those manly responsibilities are tough. lol
Better you than me! No way can I handle that hot, spicy stuff. A little for flavor, no problem. But so much that my nose runs, my eyes water, and steam shoots out of my ears? I think not. 🙂 As for waffles, chicken tenders, and fried apples? Not sure what to think of that!
Laughing here Carrie. For the most part I’ll stick with hot, not insanely hot. It is interesting that the hot chicken craze has caught on so successfully in Nashville, though. Probably best not to think about the waffles, hot chicken tenders and apples. I get the waffles and apples, but… 🙂 –Curt
I love hot food, and have a cast iron stomach; however, what you described sounds more painful than delicious. You are brave!
Mainly, I am with you. My martyr complex only comes out when Clay and I have one of our sessions, no more than once a year. Beyond that, I stay away from the ghost pepper heat. 🙂
No way I’m getting into that hot pepper business. I just don’t like it. I can deal with jalapenos, but spare me anything farther up the line. You guys can have your fun, while I’m over there in the corner with that fried okra and the chicken waffles.
Gee, Linda, I would have thought that Liberia might have given you a taste for hot food. 🙂 –Curt
No, Liberia gave me the ability to eat hot food without seeming impolite or on the verge of cardiac arrest.
🙂
Yes, it all looks very hot to me but give me the rhubarb crumble or buttermilk pancakes. I do like a good curry.
Lamb curry hot is one of my all time favorite meals, Gerard. I think I may have mentioned that before. It is what I always order on my weekly outing to the Indian restaurant. –Curt
Do you think people that eat the hottest food actually have burned away their taste buds? Maybe that’s what the Naga head hunters actually aim for. Human as food sounds a little chemically treated.
Don’t think the Naga were cannibals but they did use the peppers to burn off the flesh from the skulls, which may be more than you wanted to know. 🙂
Tolerance for hot peppers grows at the pain receptors in the tongue are shut down. What I find enjoyable makes Peggy gag. –Curt
Ah, ‘ring of fire’ stuff. Brave or foolhardy indeed! We’ll leave the upper echelons of SHU to you and Clay – love curry but never that HOT.
I certainly don’t need to eat Nashville chicken any more than once a year. 🙂 –Curt
That looks much too scary for me but it’s a true talent to be able to breathe fire like that! I’ve heard that “hottest peppers in the world” claim in Mexico too. I guess it’s hard to judge what the hottest in the world would really be.
There is actually an institute in New Mexico that tests them for heat. The measurement is based on the amount of water necessary to eliminate the heat factor. It’s only scary for the amount of time it takes you to eat and process the food. 🙂 –Curt
My family lives about 100 miles from Nashville, so I’ll have to check this place out. I like hot food as well, but am definitely not in your league. My brother grows peppers and apparently has had some success with ghost peppers. His words are “too hot to eat.” You’re a brave man Curt. ~James
I think others have chosen a slightly different word than ‘brave,’ James. 🙂
From what I’ve read, you even have to be careful when handling ghost peppers.
As for league, I suspect we are in the same one. –Curt
Too hot to handle Curt, I’m with the girls on this one! -Ginette
When it comes to ghost peppers, I am right there with you, Ginette. (grin) –Curt
Why in heavens do you do this to yourself, C?? =) I’ve seen food shows at the gym about the ghost chili pepper. Holistic Friend warns you’re damaging your liver!!
I like hot food where it adds to the taste, but not to where it destroys the taste. (That is saved for rare occasions.) As my tolerance has increased, my ability to enjoy hotter food has increased. I always have to keep my cooking on a low level, however. Peggy doesn’t do hot food. 🙂 –Curt
So much heartier and tougher than leetle me.
Somewhere I read that Korean food can be mighty hot. Is that right, D? –Curt
Yes, ha ha ha. Not ghost chili hot, though. You can adjust it. You’ve never had Korean, huh? Have you heard it’s delish?
I’ve had Korean a few times, just never hot. I’ll go looking for it. 🙂 There aren’t a lot of Korean restaurants around, however. –C
Way to go Curt! I take hot in measured doses 🙂
Did they have peppersoup in Liberia?
Not in my area, Timi. Although we called the meat/greens/palm oil part of chop soup, and it was plenty hot. And you be the only woman responding on this post to think eating hot is okay. 🙂 –Curt
Because in Nigeria eating hot food is quite common. Although this level of hot is for the brave. 🙂
I’m with the girls on this one. Jalapeño is too hot for me.
Must say, the women have spoken! 🙂 –Curt
I do love hot, but this sounds a bit much. I’m glad I am not tempted to out-macho anyone around me… ha ha. I agree with what you said about hot being all good but not to the point where it gets in the way of flavour.
Sometimes the macho just comes out, sigh. 🙂 –Curt