Buffalo wings

This article is about the food Buffalo wings. For the roller hockey team, see Buffalo Wings. Buffalo wings (known simply as wings in much of the Northeastern United States, especially in areas around Buffalo), are unbreaded chicken wing sections (called flats and drums), deep fried, and coated in a cayenne pepper-based sauce with other seasonings. Although many variations on this sauce exist, the original sauce is composed of only five ingredients: cayenne pepper sauce, white vinegar, butter, salt, and garlic. When using a prepared hot sauce of vinegar and cayenne pepper, the recipe is simply a mixture of hot sauce and melted butter. Buffalo wings are named after the city of Buffalo, New York where they originated, and the appellation "buffalo" is now commonly applied to foodstuffs other than wings that are seasoned with the sauce or close variations on it.

Preparation

In wing parlance, a "single" order is ten wings, a "double" is 20, and a "triple" is 30. Buffalo wings can usually be ordered by the "bucket" in quantities of 50 or more, and Buffalo wing sauce can be made with a variable amount of heat/spiciness, the names of these sauces generally corresponding to the level of heat (for example, "suicidal," "hot," "medium," or "mild"). For authentic Buffalo wings, "hot," "medium," and "mild" all use the same sauce. Cooks achieve the requested level of heat by adding cayenne (or other spices, such as african bird seed) to raise the "heat" or adding butter to cool the spiciness.

Buffalo wings are now typically served with celery sticks and blue cheese salad dressing. Some restaurants serve their wings with ranch dressing instead of blue cheese.

History

Buffalo wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar on Main Street, near the corner of North Street, Buffalo, on October 3, 1964. Teressa Bellissimo, co-owner of the Anchor Bar with her husband Frank, had the idea of deep frying chicken wings and tossing them in hot sauce for her son Dominic and his friends. One evening, on a spur of the moment, Teressa presented her son with a deep-fried and sauced creation, and they were an instant hit. At the time the recipe was created, chicken wings were typically thrown away or reserved for making stock.

In Buffalo, the best-known places for authentic wings are the Anchor Bar and at Duff's, just outside the city limit, on Sheridan Drive in Amherst. Wings can also be found in most pizza restaurants and corner taverns throughout the region. The Anchor Bar serves more than 36,000 pounds of wings per month. Although they are known as "Buffalo wings" in most of America, they are simply called "chicken wings" or "wings" in the Buffalo area and in much of the northeast.

Wings have gained such popularity and such a following that there are now even documented "best practice" eating techniques for wings. The legendary small bone twist and smash technique are used by many to make wing eating a more manageable and pleasant experience.

Variations

While true original Buffalo-style wings are unbreaded, a minority of restaurants and taverns that serve wings use breaded wings. In properly prepared breaded wings, the breading soaks up the hot sauce, making the flavor more even and the wings slightly less messy to eat. Improperly prepared breaded wings, however, taste like regular fried chicken with sauce drizzled over them, rather than "proper" wings.

Some wing restaurants offer wings spiced with other styles of hot spices, such as Cajun or Caribbean-style jerk spices. Lemon garlic or "Greek" wings are a non-spicy variant also offered by some restaurants. A variation local to Rochester, New York uses a sauce that is hot and sweet, as opposed to the usual hot and vinegary taste of classic Buffalo-style wings. Some restaurants, such as the Outback Steakhouse, bread their wings and then toss them in a mixture of seasonings, variating from hot, medium, and mild, rather than a sauce.

Restaurants that serve Buffalo-style wings also frequently serve other dishes common to taverns in the snow belt: fried cheese sticks (generally breaded with herbs, and made with mozzarella or provolone cheese), potato skins covered in cheese and bacon, jalapeno "poppers" (jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and deep fried in batter), fried mushrooms, pepperoni balls (fried dough or bread stuffed with pepperoni), french fries, onion rings, and so forth.

In popular culture

Buffalo wings have nothing particularly to do with the buffalo or American bison. This misconception was made famous when Jessica Simpson told a friend "I don't eat buffalo" when asked why she didn't order them on an episode of Newlyweds. Also during the 90's, Domino's Pizza promoted Buffalo Wings by advertising commercials featuring winged buffalo.

The Buffalo Wings were also a professional roller hockey team in Buffalo from 1997-1999. The Wings currently operate out of the University of Buffalo as an amateur club team.

In the movie Osmosis Jones, Frank is excited to attend a wing festival in Buffalo, New York.

In 2005, Buffalo wings earned notoriety among the sports world when rising-star athlete Sidney Crosby admitted he "despised" Buffalo Wings, while speaking to reporters before a game which matched his Pittsburgh Penguins against the home team Buffalo Sabres. Crosby's remarks sparked an intense rivalry among the teams.

References

The Story of the Buffalo Wing. Pamphlet. Buffalo/Niagara Convention & Visitor Bureau.
The Owen Sound Sun Times

External links

American cuisine | Buffalo, New York | Poultry