Buffalo Wings

Buffalo wings have become a staple of American and Canadian culture. Often thought of as bar food to enjoy while watching sporting events, Buffalo wings can fit a broad range of scenarios. I had my first batch of Buffalo wings when I was eight years old. A neighbor had made them and brought them over to share. They were covered in homemade hot sauce and served with the whole wing intact. This is similar to the recipe that was used for the original Buffalo wings.

Buffalo wings originated in Buffalo, New York in 1964. While the story of how they first came about and who created the recipe is debated, the most popularly accepted story places their birth at the Anchor Bar by the owner at the time, Teressa Bellissimo. The Anchor Bar served the wings fried in oil and covered in a hot sauce with a side of celery and Bleu Cheese. Since then, the recipe has spread throughout the United States and Canada. To this day celery and either Bleu cheese or ranch dressing are common accompaniments of the meal. Prior to Bellissimo’s introduction of this recipe, the wings of a chicken were not thought of as main courses in American cooking, but were instead primarily used to make chicken broth. The spread of the Buffalo chicken recipe has changed this for a large number of restaurants and bars.

Some people reserve the term “Buffalo wings” for chicken wings covered in hot sauce, as was originally done at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, and use the more general term “chicken wings” to refer to chicken wings cooked with the same recipe, but covered by other types of sauces. These two terms, however have become blurred and interchangeable by the majority of the people I’ve talked to. While the Anchor Bar originally served the wings whole, today Buffalo wings are typically served broken into two parts. The thicker part of the wing which has only one major bone is referred to as the “drumette” or “drumstick”. The thinner part with two main bones is simply referred to as the “wing”.

Buffalo wing recipes today typically call for frying the wings in oil and covering them with a sauce as the original recipe did. However, I've seen recipes that call for the wings to be fried, baked, grilled or any combination of the three. The sauces used to cover the wings have also varied from the original hot sauce used by the Anchor Bar. While typical sauces include hot or barbecue, there are many different varieties. Quaker Steak and Lube, a chain restaurant with sites throughout Pennsylvania advertises their Buffalo wings as their main attraction. Flavors from a Quaker Steak and Lube menu include original BBQ, Ranch, Premium Garlic, Cajun and a Sriracha sauce. Sauces from this same menu also include Mild, Hot, SuperCharged, Atomic and Triple Atomic. These latter flavors offer different degrees of hotness to the wing. This is a common trend with Buffalo wings today. I’ve seen many restaurants that serve Buffalo wings offer incentives such as a free shirt or hat to any customer who can finish a serving of Buffalo wings covered in their hottest sauce.

While Buffalo wings are a big hit with at sports bars and restaurants, their variety in sauces makes them a popular recipe for people to make at home as well. Usually this is done for a special occasion such as a cook-out or sporting event. Mike Thompson, a school teacher in Fredericksburg, VA holds an annual “Wing-Off” every June at his house. Here, guests are invited to bring their homemade Buffalo wings to enter into a number of different categories to be judged by all of the willing guests (usually the hot category has fewer judges). Some categories include, mild, hot, sweet and nontraditional. Mike says, “Some people enter their wings because they want to show off their recipes. It’s something that they’ve made that they want to compete against others. Other people have never made wings before, and just want to throw some things together for fun. Sometimes these are the people that win two or three categories!” This recipe that originated at a local bar in Buffalo, New York has not only spread out to the menus of local and chain bars and restaurants, but to the homes and kitchens of a large number of people throughout North America.

Resources:

http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1920434,00.html

https://quakersteakandlube.alohaorderonline.com/