History of Nashville Hot Chicken

The origin story of Nashville Hot Chicken is more of a legend than a historical account – making it that much more entertaining. It began with a man by the name of Thornton Prince. Apparently in the 1930s, Prince was quite popular with the ladies. For those reasons, he often stayed out late at night despite having a gal waiting for him at home. After yet another night out on the town for Prince, his lover decided to seek revenge. Knowing his favorite food was fried chicken, she prepared a pile of chicken and drenched it in a fiery concoction made from her homegrown cayenne peppers. Her plan was to make the dish essentially inedible but things went awry when she realized how much her unfaithful man loved the hot chicken.

Though Prince and his lady parted ways shortly thereafter, his love remained for the hot chicken. He ended up replicating the recipe and opened a shack to share the magical creation with others. The Prince family continues to cook up hot birds til this day at Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, TN.

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