The Plain Bread Slice Dave's Hot Chicken Gives You Isn't Random. This Is What It's For

If you've ever ordered from Dave's Hot Chicken, you're familiar with the slice of the most generic-looking white bread anyone's ever seen included underneath all that hot chicken. As unremarkable as it may seem, that plain Wonder Bread-looking square isn't random — it serves an important purpose and is very typical for Nashville-style hot chicken. Simply put, it's mainly there to soak up all of that grease.

Of course, it's also there to eat, and give your mouth (and stomach) a break from all that heat. "Putting the last good bites of chicken folded in the bread with a pickle and some ranch is heaven on earth," wrote one Redditor in r/Nashville. It helps to balance out the intensity of the sauce and salt. It also serves as basically a vessel for the chicken, as well as a napkin for the juice and spices, creating a spice-soaked bread full of flavor, making sure that no oil or cayenne pepper gets left behind.

Traditional Nashville-style hot chicken is always served on top of a slice of white bread — and no other form of bread will do. The plainness is the point, because, this way, no additional flavors are added to the hot chicken experience. White bread is porous enough to do the job, as well, and can soak in all those flavors better than other types of bread or roll. It's also cheap — this is culturally important because hot chicken began as an inexpensive meal served in working-class areas.

This is a tradition that Nashville-style hot chicken shares with barbecue, another dish that started as a cheap yet delicious meal that made whatever resources were at hand. Just as it does with hot chicken, the white bread is also meant to sop up all that messy barbecue sauce. Plus, the process of making the actual barbecue takes time and hard work – the addition of the cheapest bread possible, that also serves as a flavor sponge, just makes sense. Additionally, white bread just has a really long shelf life, which is another economical reason it was always traditionally included with these dishes.