My Meals are on Wheels

One of America’s Favorites – Buffalo Wings

Buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing

A Buffalo wing in American cuisine is an unbreaded chicken wing section (flap or drumette) that is generally deep-fried, then coated or dipped in a sauce consisting of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter prior to serving.They are traditionally served hot, along with celery sticks and carrot sticks, and a dip of blue cheese dressing or, primarily outside of New York, ranch dressing. Buffalo wings are named for Buffalo, New York, where they were invented, and have no relation to the animal. They are often called simply chicken wings, hot wings, or just wings.

Buffalo wings have gained in popularity in the United States and abroad, with some North American restaurant chains featuring them as a main menu item. The name “Buffalo” is now also applied to other spiced fried foods served with dipping sauces, including boneless chicken wings (made from chicken breast meat rather than a chicken wing, chicken fries, chicken nuggets, popcorn chicken, shrimp, and cauliflower. It is also used for other dishes, such as pizza, that are seasoned with the Buffalo-style sauce or a Buffalo flavor seasoning.

There are several different claims about the invention of Buffalo wings. One of the claims is that Buffalo wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, by Teresa Bellissimo, who owned the bar with husband Frank in 1964. At the time, chicken wings were inexpensive and undesirable, and normally thrown away or reserved for stock or soup.

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

1 – Upon the unannounced late-night arrival of their son, Dominic, with several of his friends from college, Teresa 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 and tossing them in cayenne hot sauce.
2 – Dominic 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 his mother came up with the idea of chicken wings.
3 – There was a mistaken delivery of wings instead of backs and necks for making the bar’s spaghetti sauce. Faced with this unexpected resource, Frank says that he asked Teresa to do something with them, resulting in the Buffalo wing.

A cook preparing Buffalo wings

Although an article published about the Anchor Bar in a local newspaper during 1969 does not mention Buffalo wings, a local competitor of the Anchor Bar, Duff’s, began selling Buffalo wings in that year.

Another claim is that 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 Mumbo sauce at his Buffalo restaurant, beginning in 1961. Prior to opening his restaurant, he had a conversation with a boxer who traveled; in a later interview 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.” In the same interview Young stated that the Anchor Bar did not offer Buffalo wings as a regular menu item until 1974. He registered the name of his restaurant, John Young’s Wings ‘n Things, at the county courthouse before leaving the Buffalo area in 1970. In 2013, at the National Buffalo Wing Festival held in Buffalo, John Young’s contributions were acknowledged when he was inducted into the festival’s National Buffalo Wing Hall of Flame.

The Preparation
Chicken
The chicken wings used for Buffalo wings are usually segmented into three parts: drumette, flat, and flapper or pointer, the last of which is usually discarded, although some restaurants serve them with this latter part still connected to the flat. Traditionally, the wings are deep-fried in oil, without breading or flour until they are well browned. Alternatively, they may be baked, grilled, or broiled.

Sauce
Cayenne pepper-based hot sauce, melted butter, and vinegar are the standard base of Buffalo wing sauce, which may be made mild, medium, or hot. Other ingredients are also common, although less dominant, such as Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Commercial ready-to-use wing sauce is made with varying levels of spiciness. The cooked chicken wings are placed in a bowl or pot and shaken to coat the wings completely covering them in sauce before serving.

Service

Buffalo wings with garlic dip and celery, along with a glass of Coca-Cola.

Traditionally, Buffalo wings are served with small sticks of celery (accompanied sometimes with baby carrots or carrot sticks), and blue cheese dipping sauce on the side. Ranch dressing, however, is the most popular wing dipping sauce in the United States. These sides act not only as a dip but as cooling elements for those eating particularly spicy wings, due to the fat content of the dips acting as a solvent and taking away the hydrophobic capsaicin when swallowing, which would otherwise cling to the tongue and maintain the burning sensation.