- Americans have a long love history with fried chicken and chicken wings, especially as the more than one billion chicken wings consumed at the Super Bowl illustrate.
- The hotter the chicken, the better, and Nashville hot chicken is one of the most popular trends.
- Crimson Coward has its unique take on the delicacy, which has seen it become one of the fastest-growing fried chicken franchises in the country.
Over 1.45 billion chicken wings were consumed at the just concluded 2023 Super Bowl, according to the National Chicken Council. The council credits the number to the current favorable prices of chicken and people being able to move and hang out with others, whether at the stadium, bars, and restaurants or home with family and friends. It demonstrates how much Americans love their fried chicken just as much as their football.
They also love their chicken served hot, as the popularity of Nashville hot chicken attests. This delicacy has proven to be more than just a trend and is now considered a specialty of Nashville.
The origin of Nashville Hot Chicken
It all started in the 1980s at a BBQ chicken joint that would grow to be known as the origin of Nashville hot chicken, Prince’s Hot Chicken.
The current owner André Prince Jeffries credits her great uncle’s girlfriend, who initially created the original hot chicken as a punishment to her cheating boyfriend, who liked it so much that he adopted it for the BBQ chicken shack. Now 72, Jeffries has been running the business, spanning several outlets since her 30s, and the original recipe is only good enough to qualify as mild. She has a series of heat levels up to XXX hot that is rarely served.
Prince Hot Chicken’s delicacy popularity first spread across Nashville, and other restaurants added it to their menu, each with their own take. Thanks to visitors from far off and social media, it has now spread to other American states and as far as London, Seoul, and Melbourne. Even KFC US decided to add Nashville hot to their menu.
What makes Crimson Coward different?
One of the top restaurants spreading the deliciousness of Nashville to the rest of the nation is Crimson Coward. They got their inspiration after visiting and interacting with Nashville chefs and dining at their various eateries. Inspired, the founders of Crimson Coward sought to pursue quality and add their unique signature to the movement. Here is what sets them aside from the rest;
1. Use of fresh chicken
Crimson Coward insists on serving food fresh, nothing is frozen. They only use the freshest ingredients, even on the side meals. This quality is only possible because at Crimson Coward, food is cooked to order and the sauces are homemade daily to serve them fresh. Further, they only offer exceptional, all-natural, non-GMO, hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken. The outlet opts to source its supplies from recognized farms with a reputation for organic farming practices.
2. Halal Chicken
Crimson Coward also guarantees halal hot chicken. Halal generally refers to what is permitted under Islamic law. Crimson Coward’s chicken meets the recommended guidelines for raising and slaughtering chicken in Islamic Law. All our other dishes are also halal.
3. A diverse menu
Crimson Coward manages to make a rich menu around the hot chicken with creative blends. You have your main chicken servings, which differ in size, starting from three tenders, four tenders, and then half a dozen wings, and the full coward, which is 12 wings. You also get four sandwiches in different styles, including a grilled cheese sandwich and the main attraction, the Crimson. There are also plenty of sides like potato salad, crimson fries, slaw, fried pickles, and mac and cheese. For extras, you will enjoy additional tenders, honey, pickles, crimson sauce, and cheese. There is way more to enjoy before you even pick on another speciality, the Joey Eat Fries.
4. The Crimson Rub
The standout Coward Crimson feature is the Crimson rub. It results from spending six months researching the right combination and talking to expert chefs. Another four months followed, trying all 120 combinations in the kitchen before settling on the perfect mix. The Crimson rub is what gives the restaurant’s chicken that distinctive taste. It is now a secret recipe that blends more than 16 primary and 32 secondary recipes. The rub is applied to the chicken 24 hours before it is cooked.
5. The heat levels
Crimson Coward introduces hot chicken lovers to five levels of fried chicken heat. Their heat scale starts with Country, which has no heat, then Mild, which is just a touch of heat. At Medium, the heat slaps you, and most diners stop here. For spicy lovers, they get to the Hot level, where the burn is inevitable, and the rare few get to the final level, aptly named BURRRRN, BABY, BURN.
These factors, along with their service, offers, loyalty program, and convenience of home deliveries and takeouts, set Crimson Coward as a premium place to enjoy your taste of Nashville hot chicken.
