This might be a GQ, but there’s probably a lot of subjectivity involved also so I’m putting this in IMHO.
I noticed about a year ago that Church’s Chicken would advertise jalpeno peppers as a free condiment for their “family meals”. Just now I saw a KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) commercial for some sort of “family feast” and at the end they said “four jalapeno peppers included”.
Now, these are package deals that include 10, 12 or 15 pieces of chicken. I assume that this is for four people, with each person getting one jalapeno.
Now, I enjoy spicy food, but what exactly does one do with a whole jalapeno pepper and a piece of fried chcken? Are you supposed to slice up the pepper and put it ON the chicken? Or do you bite into the pepper, then the chicken? Is this some culinary delight that has so far passed me by?
And who exactly has been clamoring for jalapenos from KFC?
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unhappy maknam
Well I’m not a big fried chicken fan (I prefer mine in nugget form) but I’ve seen this particular food combination in action. Apparently one takes the chicken in one hand, the pepper in the other, then one squeezes the juice from the pepper onto the chicken, as flavoring. Good idea, I suppose, if the chicken isn’t particularly flavorful.
Up here in the Northeast, I haven’t seen any such thing regarding peppers and KFC, so they must not be marketing it here. I would notice, because anything pepper related perks my interest. Damn…hungry for some chicken and some hot peppers now!
(I notice on my travel to the south/southwest that there are way more options when it comes to spicey/hot foods that are served more bland up hither)
Actually, there’s a logical explanation here. The way I do it is, I take a couple big bites of chicken, then have a bite of jalapeno. The oil from the fried chicken coats my mouth and keeps those nasty jalapeno oils from burning my tongue, but I get the very nice jalapeno flavor, with considerably less burn than I would otherwise.
I remember CFC putting jalapeños in their boxes 20 years ago, which was when I was first exposed to them. I, who had never eaten anything stronger than table black pepper, chomped down and ate the whole thing to show my 5-year-old nephew that they tasted good.
I would suggest that the fried chicken industry is attempting to expand their current market. One of the larger untapped demographics would probably be the Hispanic sector. Jalapeños en escabeche (pickled chile peppers with sliced carrots and onions) is a rather ubiquitous condiment in Mexican cuisine. By including this in their menu lineup, fried chicken restaurants will increase the appeal of their product to a new buyer segment.
