Buffalo wings

Infobox Prepared Food
name = Buffalo wings


caption = A bowl of home-made buffalo wings
alternate_name = Buffalo wings
Chicken wings
Hot wings
Wings
country = United States
region = Buffalo, New York
creator = Frank and Teressa Bellisimo
course = Appetiser
served = Hot
main_ingredient = Chicken
variations = Breaded
Barbecued
Spiced
calories =
other =

Buffalo wings, chicken wings, hot wings or wings are chicken wing sections (called wings or "flats") and drummettes that are deep fried and then coated in sauce. Traditional Buffalo style chicken wing sauce is composed of two ingredients: a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and margarine or butter. Buffalo wings may also be prepared with breading and sauce, although many purists would consider breaded wings not to be genuine "Buffalo" style wings.Fact|date=March 2008

Buffalo wings are named after the city of Buffalo, New York, where they originated. [ [http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/buffwinghistory.htm Buffalo Wings History - The origins of Buffalo Chicken Wings ] ] In Buffalo, the local residents do not refer to them as "Buffalo wings." They are usually referred to as "wings" or "chicken wings." The appellation "Buffalo" is also now commonly applied to foods other than wings, such as chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, popcorn chicken, etc, that are seasoned with the Buffalo-style sauce or variations of it. Traditional Buffalo wings (ones prepared without breading) are a low-carbohydrate food. [ [http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Original-Buffalo-Wings/Detail.aspx Original Buffalo Wings - Allrecipes] ]

Preparation

Cayenne pepper hot sauce, along with butter or margarine is used in preparing the sauce. Buffalo wing sauce can be made with a variable amount of heat/spiciness with the names of these sauces generally corresponding to the level of heat, such as mild, medium, or hot.

In most cases, each contains the same base sauce but varies in the amount of butter and hot sauce used. Wings can also be served dry with the sauce on the side. In Buffalo, wings are always served with cut celery and blue cheese dressing. [cite web| url = http://www.buffalowings.com/wing_facts.html| title = Wing Facts| accessdate = | accessmonthday = January 6| accessyear = 2008| last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year =| month =| format = html| work = | publisher = Buffalo Wings.com| pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =]

History

There are four different legends about how the Buffalo wings came to be. [cite web| url = http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/harmonj/atlas/buffwing.htm| title = On the Wings of a Buffalo or "Mother Teressa's Wings"| accessdate = | accessmonthday = January 20| accessyear = 2008| last = Harmon| first = John E. | authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year =| month =| format = html| work = Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States | publisher = | pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web| url = http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1980/08/25/1980_08_25_082_TNY_CARDS_000331411?currentPage=1 | title = An Attempt To Compile A Short History Of The Buffalo Chicken Wing
accessdate = 2008-01-22 | accessmonthday = January 22| accessyear = 2008| last = Trillin| first = Calvin | authorlink = | coauthors =| date = 25| year = 1980| month = August| format = html| work =| publisher = The New Yorker Magazine| pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =]

*One story is that Buffalo wings were first prepared at the Anchor Bar, located at 1047 Main Street (between North Street and Best Street) in Buffalo, New York, USA on October 3, 1964, by Teressa Bellisimo, co-owner of the Anchor Bar with her husband Frank. Upon the unannounced, late-night arrival of their son, Dominic (and 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. [cite web| url = http://www.frenchsfoodservice.com/recipe/foodservice/prod_franks.jsp?fc=1| title = Frank's Red Hot| accessdate = | accessmonthday = November 28| accessyear = 2006| last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year =| month =| format = html| work =| publisher = Frenchfoodservice.com| pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web| url = http://www.anchorbar.com/origins.asp| title = AnchorBar - Origins of the original Buffalo Chicken Wing| accessmonthday = January 6| accessyear = 2008| publisher = AnchorBar.com|] [cite web| url = http://www.franksredhot.com/recipe/franks/history_facts.jsp| title = Frank's Red Hot History and Facts| accessmonthday = January 6| accessyear = 2008| format = html| publisher = Frank's Red Hot.com|] [cite web| url = http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/buffwinghistory.htm | title = Buffalo Wings History - The origins of Buffalo Chicken Wings| Author = Peggy Trowbridge Filippone | accessmonthday = January 20| accessyear = 2008| publisher = About.com|] [cite web| url = http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/harmonj/atlas/buffwing.htm| title = On the Wings of a Buffalo or "Mother Teressa's Wings"| accessdate = | accessmonthday = January 20| accessyear = 2008| last = Harmon| first = John E. | authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year =| month =| format = html| work = Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States | publisher = | pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web| url = http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1980/08/25/1980_08_25_082_TNY_CARDS_000331411?currentPage=1 | title = An Attempt To Compile A Short History Of The Buffalo Chicken Wing
accessdate = 2008-01-22 | accessmonthday = January 22| accessyear = 2008| last = Trillin| first = Calvin | authorlink = | coauthors =| date = 25| year = 1980| month = August| format = html| work =| publisher = The New Yorker Magazine| pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =]

*A second version, as told by Dominic Bellisimo (Frank and Teressa's son) to "The New Yorker" reporter Calvin Trillin in 1980, stated: "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. [cite web| url = http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/harmonj/atlas/buffwing.htm| title = On the Wings of a Buffalo or "Mother Teressa's Wings"| accessdate = | accessmonthday = January 20| accessyear = 2008| last = Harmon| first = John E. | authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year =| month =| format = html| work = Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States | publisher = | pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web| url = http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1980/08/25/1980_08_25_082_TNY_CARDS_000331411?currentPage=1 | title = An Attempt To Compile A Short History Of The Buffalo Chicken Wing
accessdate = 2008-01-22 | accessmonthday = January 22| accessyear = 2008| last = Trillin| first = Calvin | authorlink = | coauthors =| date = 25| year = 1980| month = August| format = html| work =| publisher = The New Yorker Magazine| pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =]

*The third version of the origin involved a mis-delivery of wings instead of backs and necks for making the bar's spaghetti sauce. Faced with this unexpected resource, Frank Bellisimo says he asked Teressa to do something with them. [cite web| url = http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/harmonj/atlas/buffwing.htm| title = On the Wings of a Buffalo or "Mother Teressa's Wings"| accessdate = | accessmonthday = January 20| accessyear = 2008| last = Harmon| first = John E. | authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year =| month =| format = html| work = Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States | publisher = | pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web| url = http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1980/08/25/1980_08_25_082_TNY_CARDS_000331411?currentPage=1 | title = An Attempt To Compile A Short History Of The Buffalo Chicken Wing
accessdate = 2008-01-22 | accessmonthday = January 22| accessyear = 2008| last = Trillin| first = Calvin | authorlink = | coauthors =| date = 25| year = 1980| month = August| format = html| work =| publisher = The New Yorker Magazine| pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =]

*The fourth version has nothing to do with the Bellisimos or the Anchor Bar. Calvin Trillin stated in his 1980 "New Yorker" article that a man named John Young also claimed 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-sixties. Young had registered the name of his restaurant, John Young's Wings 'n Things, at the county courthouse before leaving Buffalo in 1970. [cite web| url = http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/harmonj/atlas/buffwing.htm| title = On the Wings of a Buffalo or "Mother Teressa's Wings"| accessdate = | accessmonthday = January 20| accessyear = 2008| last = Harmon| first = John E. | authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year =| month =| format = html| work = Atlas of Popular Culture in the Northeastern United States | publisher = | pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web| url = http://www.jamesbeard.org/about/press/newsdetails.php?news_id=24| title = James Beard Foundation | accessdate = | accessmonthday = January 20| accessyear = 2008| last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors =| date =| year =| month =| format = html| work = THE 2003 JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION COCA-COLA AMERICA’S CLASSICS AWARDS| publisher = | pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web| url = http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1980/08/25/1980_08_25_082_TNY_CARDS_000331411?currentPage=1 | title = An Attempt To Compile A Short History Of The Buffalo Chicken Wing
accessdate = 2008-01-22 | accessmonthday = January 22| accessyear = 2008| last = Trillin| first = Calvin | authorlink = | coauthors =| date = 25| year = 1980| month = August| format = html| work =| publisher = The New Yorker Magazine| pages = | archiveurl = | archivedate =]

Buffalo wings are also used in competitive eating events, such as Philadelphia's Wing Bowl and at the National Buffalo Wing Festival.

Variants

While wings served in Buffalo are almost always unbreaded, some national restaurant chains sell breaded and/or unbreaded wings.

Some wing restaurants offer wings spiced with other styles of sauces or hot spices, such as Cajun or Caribbean-style jerk spices. Another variation are wings "from the pit" or simply "pit." These wings are fried, tossed in barbecue sauce, then placed on the grill for a quick charring. Sometimes the barbecue sauce will have hot sauce mixed with it, but this is not needed. Lemon garlic or Greek wings are a non-spicy variant also offered by some restaurants. Also, these wings are breaded and fried as opposed to being just fried. Some restaurants bread their wings and then toss them in a mixture of seasonings, varying from hot to mild, rather than a sauce. A popular New England variant is to serve the wings, sometimes breaded and sometimes not, with no spices or sauce or with the sauce on the side. When offered on a menu, these are usually called "Wingdings."Fact|date=June 2008

In addition, restaurants may include on their menus a dish called "boneless wings." Boneless wings usually are made of breaded chicken breast meat strips. They are called "boneless wings" because they are tossed in wing sauce like Buffalo wings, although without the sauce they bear more resemblance to chicken strips or tenders.

Sometimes carrot sticks and ranch dressing are served with or in place of the celery and blue cheese dressing.

References

External links

* [http://www.buffalowing.com/ National Buffalo Wing Festival]
* [http://www.anchorbar.com/ Anchor Bar official website]
* [http://www.geography.ccsu.edu/harmonj/atlas/buffwing.htm On the Wings of a Buffalo or "Mother Teressa's Wings"]