Nostalgia for the South and hot chickenn
Nostalgia is about as useful as a GED. I used to live in Nashville, Tennessee and I try not to have fake nostalgia about that place. If blogger was around when I was in high school, who knows what kind of memories would have been saved. Luckily for me, it was still a pain to even upload a HTML file back then. What I do remember about Nashville is that in the late 90s, there were better places to live as a non-white and vehemently atheist individual. But in New York City, I feel like it's a badge of honor to say that I'm from the south. The truth is I didn't like the south, sort of still don't. The idea of Southern food appeals to me now simply because I really know nothing about it. Peaches Hot House is supposed to be a take on Nashville-style spicy fried chicken. Apparently now if you say 'hot chicken' you're talking about Nashville hot chicken. For real, ask Wikipedia. The cool thing about Peaches is that I can just visit Brooklyn instead of going back to a land that isn't deserving of nostalgia.
Southern Foodways Alliance talks about Hot Chicken as a magical and special thing. The oil, batter, and breading can all be spiced up with a bit of chilies. Princes is supposed to be the place to visit in Nashville. James hit up the place last Fall and has some crazy hot shots of the chicken.
At Peaches Hot House, you can get it mild (without spiciness), hot, and extra hot. I tried both the mild and the hot. You've gotta try the mild because good fried chicken should be the baseline. You should build on top of good fried chicken and add the heat. Unfortunately with the mild spiciness came with mild flavors. Peaches claim they source good chickens that's not some mass produced shit. I believe them. But you still gotta salt that bird. The mild chicken needed hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, or something. It wasn't good on its own.
The 'hot' chicken fared better although not by much. It too lacked salt. Spicy is not a flavor onto itself. I love me a good burn where my mouth is numb and sweat is pouring down my face. It's a bit of a let down when it's kind of one-note though. The crispy grits were an option as a side and they were delicious. I can't call that a saving grace because deep fried grits shouldn't be the silver lining at a fried chicken restaurant.
Chicken alone can't inspire nostalgia, especially since I never had hot chicken in Nashville. My experience at Peaches Hot House isn't really making me yearn for the real deal. Hot chicken can stay in Nashville and I can stay here in New York. For me the South is still a place where kids go to Wednesday night Bible Study and on Friday nights get sloshed and drunk. It's a closed-minded land full of moral discrepancies. It is not unlike any other land. It isn't deserving of any special praise or lore. In an age fueled by technology that takes us further and further from real human interactions, we like to dream about a land that's simple and old school. Nashville is a place and hot chicken is just fried chicken made with spices. Sometimes it's not even that good.
Peaches Hot House
415 Tompkins Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11221
718-483-9111
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I guess this means I'm the one who's going to go straight up extra hot on this shit... hopefully that makes all the difference!
James
January 25, 2011 10:08 pm
@James,
yess!!! do it! I couldn't go there. haha
Danny
January 26, 2011 2:33 pm
you need an editor and fact check... we ordered medium, not hot... And the medium really wasn't that hot.
Ang
January 27, 2011 4:10 pm