Hot, Hot, Hot: Why Nashville Laughs At Your Spiciest Fried Chicken Through Fiery Tears

The spiciest food that I have ever eaten

At some point -- as I finished eating the chicken wing -- my brain gave clear instructions that I should stand up and run away from the only people who I knew in Nashville.

I should have known there was trouble when the only local had said we had to visit Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish, then announced "I'll just have a soda."  Nashville has a "hot chicken" tradition where lethal quantities of cayenne and other spices are mixed into or spread onto fried chicken.  Bolton's is a concrete bunker of a restaurant where you take out or eat at one of the worn tables.  (See below.)

Overall, this is delicious chicken, well worth an adventure if you visit Nashville.  On the main part of the breast, the ratio of moist white meat balanced out the crazy spice in the breading.

Bon Chon's wings and pickled radish

But eating the wing first was murder.  The red-stained breading was as thick as the meat on a wing.  Spice overwhelmed everything and filled my mouth.  I puffed out breaths.  I drank down Diet Coke.  I ate the pickles and white bread.  I actually had the urge to run away, flee the chicken, find ice water to dunk my  head.

But I'm a guy.  The other two guys kept eating their chicken, so I kept going as well.  Our local stole a few slices, but it was the travelers who finished off the "sandwiches" and felt like they had their taste of Nashville.  I felt flames in my stomach for the rest of the day.  And that was Bolton's medium chicken.  I hadn't been crazy enough to start with the hot or the extra hot.

For local chicken, the spiciest probably comes from the kitchen at Bon Chon Chicken in Ellicott City.  That's a terrific spot.  They also serve pickled radish as a side dish.  Those cubes do wonders to cool off a fiery mouth  tongue.  The hottest local food is probably the chili naan at Tandoor Grill on Johns Hopkins Road, although a friend said that bread had been toned down a bit the last time that he ordered.

Hot chicken at Bolton's reminded me that I need to return for pit beef at Pioneer Pit Beef in Woodlawn.  That's our answer to a local delicacy cooked in shacks and concrete bunkers.  Ironically, I think my last lunch on Pioneer's picnic tables was with my Nashville buddy.  For the record, I ate exactly what I told him to eat.


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Sometimes You Have To Get Out of Town To Find Something You Love; Cuban Coffee To Share

The colada at the Miami Dade College snack bar

Sometimes you have to get out of town to find something you love.

Cuban coffee culture has created the perfect mix of caffeine and friendship, value and flavor -- and I don't understand why I can't buy them all over America.

Behold above:  The colada, a huge shot of Cuban coffee served everywhere in Miami in a styrofoam cup with a half-dozen tiny plastic thimbles on the side.  Dark, sweet, espresso-like coffee.  Served so that you can share with your friends by filling thimbles and snapping them back.

What could be better than a cheap way to drink coffee all day?  I bought the colada above at a snackbar at Miami Dade College.  Truth be told, I used it as jet fuel.  I drank about two-thirds alone so that I didn't nod off during a morning spent listening to lawyers.  Huge caffeine boost, but small enough liquid that I wouldn't need the bathroom breaks that come with a venti-largo-grandi cup of coffee.

But the real fun comes from spacing them through the day.  I buy one for the group's morning coffee break.  You bring one back when you go pick up lunch.

These cost a little more than a dollar in Miami.  I assume they're making money, so I don't understand why the colada -- and Cuban coffee generally -- has never become a trend in American cities.  A Miami coffee bar serves espresso shots, the big colada, and then sipping drinks like a cafe con leche.  Come on people!  Someone should start the colada revolution around here.

The best Cuban coffee near Howard County is a Cuba de Ayer in Burtonsville, and I'm a big fan, especially of the pork chop and the Cuban sandwich.  They serve nice cafe con leche as well.  I have seen that Le Comptoir offers a "cordata" with espresso and steamed half-and-half, but I haven't tried it yet.  

The Woman Who Had No Wedding Cake And The Cupcakes That Seduced Her To Bethesda

Let's start with two facts:  No one promotes local food more than this blog, and no one has been able to get Mrs. HowChow to like cake.

Okay, there were a few exceptions.  Sweet Street Desserts in Pennsylvania ships a carrot cake so moist that Mrs. HowChow will eat it any time.  But most cakes make her say "dry" and look around for a bread pudding or another dessert that suits her fancy.  At our wedding, I vetoed cake and had them surprise her with a giant rice krispie treat instead.

Georgetown Cupcakes has won over Mrs. HowChow and set a standard that all of the local cupcake bakeries should be proud to emulate.  The cupcakes are tiny and expensive.  They're also incredibly delicious.  Light, moist cake.  Big, interesting flavors.  They all taste different, and they all taste fresh without fronting just sugar.

Weekend: Philadelphia for Food and Escape

People act surprised when I say that they should go away to Philadelphia.  

I understand.  I lived there in the late 1980s, when the city wasn't a place to wander for food and window shopping.  But you need to  leave Howard County some time, and driving two hours can create a short escape that feels like weeks away.

First, pick a downtown hotel.  Anything within five blocks of City Hall would be great and give you the opportunity to enjoy a city time.  Consider just two nights like Mrs. HowChow and I stayed last week for our anniversary

Then, check the Web for a special restaurant where you might need a reservation. We recommend Alma de Cuba, a modern Cuban place west of City Hall.  Great food runs from Olde City against the river through Center City along Chestnut, Walnut and Sansom.  But we can't take ourselves away from Alma de Cuba.  Beautiful, dim atmosphere.  Delicious mojitos and caipirinhas.  They start you with Columbian rolls with a light crust and a soft interior.  Then we always start with ceviche.  Alma de Cuba serves at least six varieties, and we splurged last weekend for the trio sampler -- a classic hamachi, a tuna variety, and lobster and crab in a coconut milk.  Honestly, I can still taste the corn nuts in the hamachi ceviche, but I don't remember what I had as a main dish.

Then walk.  The fun of Philadelphia is that you can stroll day-long loops and graze with no reservations.  No plans.  This isn't Columbia.  This isn't even Washington DC.  Check out Reading Terminal Market for breakfast or cheesesteaks that make Lexington Market seem pedestrian.  Head all the way down to Fork Etc. at Fourth and Market for gourmet sandwiches (the Cuban!) or the makings of a picnic outside the Liberty Bell (the fried chicken!).  You can walk 40 blocks and stop in any pizza shop that you pass.  The slices or the hoagies will exceed almost anything you can buy around here.  It's like New York without the Manhattan prices.

Or it's like Italy with more imagination.  We plan our days around Capogiro -- the best gelato that I have ever had.  It's the creamy taste of Italy, but it's even better because Capogiro's daily flavors include both traditional flavors like dark chocolate, fior di latte or fruits with imaginative ideas that you won't taste even in Rome like sea salt or Thai coconut milk.  My favorites are actually sorbettos -- mixtures of made from sugar, fruit and a paired herb.  Lime-cilantro.  Lemon-opal basil.  Orange-cardamon.  They're expensive.  But Capogiro invites you to taste -- literally taste a dozen flavors before you pick two or three for your dish.

Those discoveries make Philadelphia an adventure and an escape.  A few years ago, we window shopped for clothes, then looked at art galleries.  Last week, we nosed around modern furniture stores in a district along Third Street north of Market -- six interesting stores topped off by the cool vintage pieces at Mode Moderne.  Heading back to the hotel, we stumbled on Foster's -- a home store with a mix of furniture, kitchen ware, clocks, books, etc -- and walked out with a shiny mobile.  That is the fun of being away.

If you want to check out Philadelphia, start with Philly Mag.  If you go to Capogiro, also check out El Vez across the street.  That is great guacamole that inspired Mrs. HowChow's creation.  We tasted the El Vez version last week, and we were shocked to realize that they taste nothing alike.

Alma de Cuba

1623 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Capogiro Gelateria

119 S. 13th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107