Saturday, February 6, 2016

KFC Nashville Hot Chicken and a Cold Bottle of Dew

I don’t know which is more embarrassing, the fact that the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporate headquarters is only 175 miles from Nashville and they’ve just now gotten around to putting Nashville Hot Chicken on their menu or the fact that I was born and raised only 145 miles from Nashville and KFC had to finally put Nashville Hot Chicken on their menu before I ever tried it.

The traditional Nashville style is to sauce the fried chicken with a cayenne pepper-based paste then serve it with pickle chips on a piece of white bread. Because of the shameful truth to which I’ve already admitted, I can’t compare the Colonel’s attempt with the “real” thing but I can tell you that the KFC stuff is mighty tasty.



At first I was a little worried that they were wimping out on the spice but after a couple of bites a good burn began to set in. The vinegary-peppery sauce tastes great with just the right amount of heat. For mainstream fast food fare, it’s strong.

KFC doesn’t use the standard Nashville slice of white bread but the biscuit they include with the meal is even better. And I needed it to sop up all the extra sauce in the to-go box (which I’m sure is the reason behind the bread in the first place.)

The pickles are a nice touch and, ideally, I’d like one with each bite. Unfortunately my meal came with only three little dill slices. I don’t know why the Col. was being a cheap bastard and skimping on the pickles but since I was eating at home I grabbed a jar from the refrigerator and made it rain. I got pickles for days, man. That’s just how I roll.

KFC also offers coleslaw with the meal and the cool creaminess pairs well with the hot and spicy chicken. You can substitute another side but why? Cole slaw is where it’s at.

Ol’ man Sanders is also cool enough to supply you with a special wet wipe. 


You’re going to need it. The KFC Nashville Hot Chicken is messy business. Ignore the strong chemical lemon smell and thoroughly wipe yourself down after eating. You wouldn’t want to inadvertently scratch an eye or pick a nose with cayenne-covered fingers. This meal is too damned good to end in tragedy.

On a side note, you’re going to need something to drink with this stuff. The science-minded junk food aficionado would choose a milk-based beverage. That’s because (at least supposedly) the casein in milk binds with the stingy capsaicin in the peppers and floats that stuff away. Water-based beverages don’t beat the burn, they just spread it around.

Even knowing that, I chose Mountain Dew. The stuff was invented in Tennessee so why not pair it with my first taste of Nashville Hot Chicken. Besides I had a brand new Mountain Dew product chilling in the fridge just waiting for me to sample. It's called Dew Shine. Traditional Mountain Dew is a radioactive green color. This stuff is clear. And the regular Dew is sweetened with corn syrup. Dew Shine uses real cane sugar like Mountain Dew used to.



The real sugar part is fine but Dew Shine tastes like you’re drinking the squeezings from a bunch of those KFC Industrial Chemical Lemon Scented Hand Wipes. No thanks. I’d rather just suffer through the Nashville Hot Chicken burn sans beverage than drink this stuff. Grab yourself some chicken but forget the fancy Dew. Yuck.

Of course, it is entirely possible that all that hot chicken sauce just screwed up my taste buds and Dew Shine is totally fine. As always, feel free to take what I say with a grain of salt. I know I do.

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