Buffalo wing

Buffalo wings

Buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing
Alternative names	Buffalo chicken wings Chicken wings Wings [1] Hot wings [2]
Course	Appetizer Main course
Place of origin	United States
Region or state	Buffalo, New York
Created by	Teressa Bellissimo
Main ingredients	Chicken wing Cayenne pepper hot sauce Butter
Cookbook: Buffalo wings  Media: Buffalo wings

A Buffalo wing, in the cuisine of the United States, is an unbreaded chicken wing section (flat or drumette) that is generally deep-fried then coated in a sauce consisting of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter prior to serving.^[3][4][5] The Buffalo wing was invented in 1964 at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York by Teressa Bellissimo.^[6] They are generally served hot, along with celery sticks and/or carrot sticks with blue cheese for dipping.

Buffalo wings have gained in popularity in the United States and abroad through the years with a number of North American restaurant chains featuring them as a main menu item. Currently, the appellation "Buffalo" is also now commonly applied to foods other than wings.^[7] Some of these include chicken fingers, chicken fries, chicken nuggets, popcorn chicken, shrimp, and pizza along with a host of other items that are seasoned with the Buffalo-style sauce or a Buffalo flavor seasoning.^[8]

History

Origin stories

There are several different claims about the invention of Buffalo wings.^[9][10] One of the claims is that Buffalo wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, by Teressa Bellissimo, who owned the bar with husband Frank in 1964.^[10][11] At the time chicken wings were inexpensive and undesirable primarily being used for stock or soup.^[12]

Several versions of the story of the invention of the Buffalo wing have been circulated by the Bellissimo family and others including:

• Upon the unannounced, late-night arrival of their son, Dominic, with several of his friends from college, Teressa needed a fast and easy snack to present to her guests. It was then that she came up with the idea of deep frying chicken wings (normally thrown away or reserved for stock) and tossing them in cayenne hot sauce.^{[9][10][13][12]} Marketing materials for Frank's RedHot claim that it was the hot sauce used in the Bellissimos' original recipe.^[14]
• Dominic Bellissimo (Frank and Teressa's son) told The New Yorker reporter Calvin Trillin in 1980: "It was Friday night in the bar and since people were buying a lot of drinks he wanted to do something nice for them at midnight when the mostly Catholic patrons would be able to eat meat again." He stated that it was his mother, Teressa, who came up with the idea of chicken wings.^[9][10]
• There was mis-delivery of wings instead of backs and necks for making the bar's spaghetti sauce. Faced with this unexpected resource, Frank Bellissimo says that he asked Teressa to do something with them.^[9][10]

However, a while long article about the Anchor Bar in a local newspaper in 1969 does not mention Buffalo wings, a local long term competitor of the Anchor Bar began selling Buffalo wings in that year.^[15][16]

• Another claim is that a man named John Young, who moved to Buffalo from Alabama in 1948, began serving uncut chicken wings that were breaded, deep fried and served in his own special tomato based "Mambo Sauce" at his Buffalo restaurant beginning in 1964.^[17] Prior to opening his restaurant he had a conversation with a boxer who traveled and in a later interview Mr. Young recalled: "He told me that there was a restaurant in Washington, D.C. that was doing a good business with wings and I decided to specialize".^[17] In the same interview Young stated that the Anchor Bar didn't offer Buffalo wings as a regular menu item until 1974.^[17] He registered the name of his restaurant, John Young's Wings 'n Things, at the county courthouse before leaving the Buffalo area in 1970.^[9][10][18] In 2013, at the National Buffalo Wing Festival, held in Buffalo, New York, John Young's contributions were acknowledged when he was inducted into the festival's National Buffalo Wing Hall of Flame.^[19]

Growth and popularity

A cook preparing Buffalo wings

In 1977 the city of Buffalo issued an official proclamation celebrating Anchor Bar co-owner Frank Bellissimo declared July 29, 1977 to be Chicken Wing Day.^[20] Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Buffalo wings gained in popularity as a bar food and appetizer across the United States and Canada.^[21] Large franchises specializing in Buffalo wings have emerged, notably Buffalo Wild Wings founded in 1982 and Hooter's in 1983.^[22] McDonald's began selling Mighty Wings as an optional item in 1990 at their restaurant locations in the United States.^[23] In 1994, following four Super Bowl appearances by the Buffalo Bills football team, the Domino's pizza chain added Buffalo wings to their national menu followed by Pizza Hut the next year.^[24][25]

As the market for chicken wings became larger restaurants began to create and use a variety of sauces in addition to buffalo sauce.^[26] Some of these new chicken wing sauces were influenced by Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Caribbean, and Indian cuisines.^[27][28] Other flavors created by restaurants include unique combinations, such as Blueberry BBQ Wing Sauce and Maple/Bacon Glaze for example, to help keep customer interest and grow their businesses.^[29] Because of the increased cost in the price of chicken wings, and a desire by some diners for a neater eating experience, restaurants began to offer a menu item called "boneless wings," sometimes marketed under the name wyngz.^[30][31] Boneless wings are essentially small pieces of skinless, boneless chicken breast that are coated in flour and spices then fried or baked. They are usually coated in or served with similar sauces as chicken wings. The growth of popularity in recent years in Buffalo wing consumption and restaurants serving wings have led to actual and perceived shortages of chicken wings in the United States during certain times.^[32][33][34]

In many areas of the United States chicken wing festivals are held with Buffalo wings being used in competitive eating events, such as at Philadelphia's Wing Bowl and the National Buffalo Wing Festival.^[35] It has also become commonplace for restaurants to offer a wing eating contest featuring a customer eating a certain number of wings, coated in their hottest sauce during a set period of time.^[36] Many bars and restaurants intentionally create an extra-hot sauce for this purpose, and customers are usually rewarded with their picture posted on the restaurant's wall or website, a commemorative T-shirt, a free meal or a combination of rewards for successfully completing the challenge.^[37]

Preparation

Chicken

The chicken wings used for Buffalo wings are usually segmented into three parts with the end section of the wing, called the flapper or pointer, being discarded. Typically, the wings are deep-fried in oil (although they are sometimes grilled or baked) until they are well browned and then drained if deep fried.

Sauce

Cayenne pepper, hot sauce and melted butter or margarine are the basis of the Buffalo wing sauce. Varying the ratio of ingredients is used to make the sauce mild, medium, or hot.^[38] In some areas a number of companies offer a ready to use wing sauce in varying levels of spiciness.^[39] A popular sweet variant is the barbeque wing, in which barbecue sauce is used as the sauce instead of a hot sauce-based coating. The cooked chicken wings are then placed in a bowl or pot and shaken to coat the wings completely covering them in sauce before serving.

Service

A serving of wings is typically served with small sticks of celery, sometimes baby carrots, and blue cheese dipping sauce on the side. Ranch dressing can be used as a substitute for blue cheese; it is nonetheless considered a faux pas to do so in western New York.^[40]

Variations

Crispy chicken wings with french fries

The appellation "Buffalo" is also now commonly applied to foods other than wings, including chicken fingers, chicken fries, chicken nuggets, popcorn chicken, shrimp, and pizza that are seasoned with the Buffalo-style sauce or variations of it.

The flavor of Buffalo wings is replicated by a number of dishes. A common variation on the "Buffalo" sauce flavor is found in potato chips produced by a number of different companies. Many of these "Buffalo chips" also incorporate a blue cheese or ranch dressing to simulate the complete Buffalo wing experience.

Today, there are many flavors of prepared wings (flats, drumettes or whole wings) available in addition to the original hot Buffalo style. Flavors include barbecue, lemon pepper, pepper Parmesan, garlic, sweet-and-sour, honey mustard, Thai chili, Caribbean jerk, Indian butter chicken, honey garlic, habanero, ghost pepper, and peanut-butter and jelly. Restaurants have also introduced hundreds of different flavors of chicken wings.

See also

• List of hors d'oeuvre
• List of regional dishes of the United States
• Chicken lollipop
• Swiss wing

References

External links

• National Buffalo Wing Festival