I love Buffulo wings! Apparently so do millions of other people, if your average restaurant or tavern menu is any indicator.
Here’s my question: Hot wings are a recent addition to the modern American food pantheon. (I think Calvin Trillion traced them back to an upstate New York bar, circa 1970) Where are all the wings coming from? What happens when demand for one part of an animal outpaces that for another? For every wing there is a thigh. Where does it go?
I’ve noticed a few attempts to balance the demand by trying to pass off drumsticks as wing drumlets (an abomination, in my opinion)or using breast meat for “Buffalo nuggets” (not bad really, but about as authentic as seedless watermelon) I think that Scotish scientist who cloned Dolly should start working on a four winged chicken!
What a coincidence. Just got back from Buffalo this very afternoon. Of course I had to try out the original. Yum.
If you’re ever there, go to “Frank & Teresa’s Anchor Bar”, where Buffalo Wings were invented. Frank noticed that wings were often thrown away, so deep fried 'em and tossed 'em in hot sauce. The rest, as they say, is history.
Locals just call 'em “Chicken Wings”
You can get the sauce in most local markets.
You’re right about demand. When I was a kid, the wings were cheap, sometimes free, at your local butcher. I still prefer wings and drumsticks over breasts.
“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything” Mark Twain 1894
Well, a lot of the thighs and legs end up in my stomach, but Sly hit it on the nose. It probably gets processed into nuggets, sandwich meat etc. If they can sell the gizzards at the supermarket, they should have no problem getting rid of the other parts.
Do the originals come with the whole wing or just the drumette? Many places serve the drumette only.
Well, Up here in Albany NY (any every other place in NY I’ve ever had chicken wings) you get the “wing”-two bones, and the “drumette”-little drumstick-kinda part. In a standard 1:1 ratio in every order.
Went two a “free wings night” at a local bar back in college with 4 friends, left 5 hrs later leaving a pile of bones over a FOOT high and a Foot wide at the base!
Love them wings!
“The universe doesn’t give first warnings or second chances”
When I was at the Anchor Bar (admittedly quite a few years ago), the story said that Frank’s wife was the one who came up with the idea to use the wings, because they were too big and fat to “waste” in the stock they were going to make with them.
Ah, chicken wings! Puts me in mind of my college days at dear old SUNY Fredonia. I went to school there 20 years ago, and a girl I knew then was friends with the family who owned the Anchor Bar. Never got there myself.
Sigh.
Oh, I met my wife at school, too.
But oh, those wings.
The Dave-Guy
“since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx
You just had to bring this up again, didn’t you Dave. There goes my diet.
I tried the sauce I brought home from Buffalo. Followed the recipe on the bottle.
PERFECT!!!
They have a cool website. I’m gonna try to put it here, in case anyone’s interested.
Here goes;
Actually, I kinda felt that the chicken industry as a whole would be very happy to finally figure out what to do with those darn leftover chicken wings that nobody wanted! I love Buffalo wings myself–
