Just Next Door

     In May I spent a week studying Nashville's Hot Chicken.  But little did I know that just next door in neighboring Kentucky I could have also tasted their iconic Hot Brown.

     As the story goes, back in the Roaring Twenties the Brown Hotel would host over a thousand guests each evening for a night of dancing.  As the band played on the chefs in the restaurant kitchen were preparing a midnight snack.  For the first few years it was a traditional serving of ham and eggs, but as attendance began to dwindle, Executive Chef Fred Schmidt decided to change the menu in hopes of revitalizing interest in the nightly event.



His creation was a variation of the familiar Welsh rarebit.  in 1926 his chefs layered turkey and bacon on white bread to make an open-faced sandwich that was then covered in Mornay sauce and baked in the oven until the bread was crisp and the sauce began to brown.  It was a hit!  And still today is the overwhelming favorite in the Louisville area.  95% of the patrons at the Brown Hotel Restaurant order it.  Some local variations also include ham and tomatoes, and sometimes Cheddar or American cheese is substituted in place of the Mornay.



     The sandwich is not without its imitators around the country.  On some restaurant menus you can find a "cold brown" sandwich that consists of baked poultry, hard-boiled egg, lettuce and tomato on rye bread and covered with Thousand Island dressing.  At the Mayfair Hotel in St. Louis you can order a sandwich very similar to the Hot Brown under the name of "Prosperity Sandwich."  And in Pittsburgh ask for a "Turkey Devonshire."