We travelled 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) on our southern USA road trip, and we ate a lot of fantastic things.
But, here it is, the most amazing, delicious food we tried in the South: Nashville Hot Chicken.
Hot Chicken is spicy fried chicken and it's a Nashville local specialty. It's said that it was invented when the original owner of Prince's Hot Chicken was out carousing and his wife decided to punish him by serving him chicken so spicy he'd regret his sins. But he liked the chicken so much he decided to sell it.
We didn't make it to Prince's but we tried Hot Chicken anywhere we could get it in Nashville and it was fantastic!
The chicken pieces are marinated in buttermilk and spices, then coated in a spicy coating, shallow-fried and then smothered in more spice paste. It's then served on top of a piece of white bread with pickles on top. It comes in mild, medium and hot plus extra hot versions (and extra mild too sometimes) and it is very, very spicy but also amazingly tender and juicy.
