Buffalo wing
 A bowl of hot Buffalo wings | |
| Alternative names | Buffalo wings, hot wings, chicken wings, wings, barbecue wings |
|---|---|
| Course | Appetizer, main course |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | Buffalo, New York |
| Created by | Teressa and Frank Bellissimo |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Chicken, cayenne pepper hot sauce, butter |
A Buffalo wing, Buffalo chicken wing, hot wing or wing, in the cuisine of the United States, is a chicken wing section (wingette or drumette) that is generally deep-fried, unbreaded and coated in a sauce of vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter in the kitchen.[1] They are served hot, along with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing for dipping.
Buffalo wings were created in Buffalo, New York. The residents of Buffalo generally refer to them as "wings" or "chicken wings" rather than "Buffalo wings," but never "hot wings". [2]
Preparation
Cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter or margarine are the basis of the sauce, which may be mild, medium, or hot. Typically, the wings are deep-fried in oil (although they are sometimes grilled or baked) until they are well browned. They are then drained, mixed with sauce, and shaken to coat the wings.
Other recipes season the uncooked wings with dry seasonings then bake or fry them. In this case, they are served dry, with sauce on the side.
History
There are five different stories about how Buffalo wings came to be.[3][4] None of them are well substantiated:
- Buffalo wings were first allegedly prepared at the Anchor Bar by Teressa Bellissimo, several others claim to have been first, who owned the bar along with her husband Frank. 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 hungry 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.[3][4][5][6]
A cook preparing Buffalo wings
- There was a harsh snow storm in Buffalo. All the workers were gone, and the owners of the establishment were snowed in. While the wings of the chicken were normally thrown out, in order to keep from starving, Teressa deep fried chicken wings and served them as a dish.
- 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.[3][4]
- 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.[3][4]
- A man named John Young claims credit for serving chicken wings in a special "mambo sauce". Chicken wings in mambo sauce became the specialty at his Buffalo restaurant in the mid-1960s. His wings were breaded. Young had registered the name of his restaurant, John Young's Wings 'n Things, at the county courthouse before leaving Buffalo in 1970.[3][4][7]
A common place and date given for the invention of Buffalo wings is the Anchor Bar in 1964.[4][8] However, a long article about the Anchor Bar in a local newspaper in 1969 does not mention Buffalo wings.[9]
Marketing materials for Frank's RedHot claim that it was the hot sauce used in the Bellissimos' original recipe.[10]
Growth and popularity
Buffalo wings have become a popular bar food and appetizer across the United States and Canada. Large franchises specializing in Buffalo wings have emerged, notably Buffalo Wild Wings founded in 1982. As the market got larger, restaurants began to use a variety of sauces in addition to buffalo sauce. These sauces generally take influences from Chinese, Japanese, Caribbean, and Indian cuisines. Because of the mess caused by eating Buffalo wings, it is now common for restaurants to offer boneless wings that can be eaten with a fork.[citation needed] These are essentially chicken nuggets coated or spun in sauce. Many American-style restaurants in other countries will offer Buffalo chicken wings on their menus, especially if they also function as a bar.
Buffalo wings are used in competitive eating events, such as Philadelphia's Wing Bowl and at the National Buffalo Wing Festival. It has also become commonplace for restaurants to offer a contest featuring a customer eating a certain number of wings, coated in their hottest sauce. Many bars and restaurants intentionally create an extra-hot sauce for this purpose, and customers are usually rewarded with a picture on the wall, free meal.
On television
The first mention of Buffalo wings on national television may have been on NBC's Today show in the 1980s.[citation needed] The dish gained prominence nationally after the Buffalo Bills' four consecutive appearances in the Super Bowl from 1990-1993 focused considerable media attention to the area for an extended period of time, giving Buffalo cuisine significant nationwide exposure. Clips showing cooks preparing the dish continues to be featured on nationally televised sporting events involving the Buffalo Bills and to a lesser extent the Buffalo Sabres. The Toronto performer MC Abdominal recently composed a ballad to the history of the chicken wing.
Variations
The appellation "Buffalo" is also now commonly applied to foods other than wings, including chicken fingers, 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 simulated blue cheese flavoring to simulate the complete Buffalo wing experience.
Today, there are many flavors of prepared wings (wingettes and drumettes) available, besides the original hot Buffalo style. Flavors include barbecue, lemon pepper, pepper Parmesan, garlic, sweet-and-sour, and honey mustard. Since the first introduction, restaurants have introduced hundreds of different flavors of chicken wings.
See also
References
- ^ Horwitz, Jeremy (January 1, 2008). "Chicken Wings, or, Why People Know About Buffalo". Buffalo Chow.com. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Kinsman, Kat (July 27, 2007). "Buffalo Wings". Slashfood. AOL Food. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d e Harmon, John E. "On the Wings of a Buffalo or "Mother Teressa's Wings"". Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|month=and|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d e f Trillin, Calvin (August 25, 1980). "An Attempt To Compile A Short History of the Buffalo Chicken Wing". The New Yorker Magazine. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "AnchorBar - Origins of the original Buffalo Chicken Wing". AnchorBar.com. Retrieved January 6, 2008.
- ^ Peggy Trowbridge Filippone. "Buffalo Wings History - The origins of Buffalo Chicken Wings". About.com. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
- ^ "James Beard Foundation". THE 2003 JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION COCA-COLA AMERICA’S CLASSICS AWARDS. Archived from the original on January 3, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|month=and|coauthors=(help) - ^ Primal Grill with Steven Raichlen, PBS, August 8, 2008 .
- ^ Article in the Courier-Express in 1969 cited by Trillin
- ^ Frank's RedHot FAQs. "http://www.franksredhot.com/info/faq". Retrieved February 10, 2012.
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External links
- National Buffalo Wing Festival
- Anchor Bar official website
- On the Wings of a Buffalo from the Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States