Fowl play over origin of Buffalo’s best
Plate up
First, a confession: I was initially confused by the prospect of buffalo wings. I was a child and was visiting the United States for the first time, and I was fairly sure that buffalo did not have wings. Or if they were actually chicken wings, how would you flavour them with buffalo?
With the benefit of time I now understand that buffalo wings come from the city of Buffalo, New York, and that they are deep-fried chicken wings that are coated with a spicy sauce made with vinegar, cayenne pepper, regular hot sauce and butter.
These wings are usually served with an additional blue-cheese dipping sauce, plus a large beer, and a big-screen television playing some sort of sporting event.
First serve
There is beef over the origin of the buffalo wing. The accepted story, at least until a decade or so ago, was that Teressa Bellissimo, of an ItalianAmerican family who ran a pub in Buffalo called the Anchor Bar, invented Buffalo wings in 1964.
Apocryphal tales accompany this invention – friends came over unannounced, an accidental delivery of wings arrived – but the central, undisputed fact was that Bellissimo came up with the recipe.
There is, however, another story.
This one states that John Young was an AfricanAmerican man who moved from Alabama to Buffalo in 1948 and, by 1961, had started a restaurant and begun serving whole deep-fried chicken wings with a spicy ‘‘mambo sauce’’.
He left the city due to racial tension in 1970. By the time he returned a decade later, his recipe was a hit, and Anchor Bar had claimed the credit.
Order there
Though Young’s Wings and Things restaurant no longer exists, the Bellissimos’ Anchor Bar (anchorbar.com) is still well worth calling in to.
Order here
In Auckland, get your buffalo wing fix at Schapiro’s Sports Bar & Diner (schapirossportsbar.co.nz) and Burger Geek (burgergeek.co.nz), both on Eden Tce. In Wellington, Tequila Joe’s buffalo-style wings can be ordered in servings of 40.
Nationwide, the Sal’s Pizza chain serves reliable wings with blue cheese or ranch sauce.
One more thing
There has been some sort of settlement of the origin debate in Buffalo. In 2013, John Young was inducted into the National Buffalo Wing Hall of Flame, acknowledging his ‘‘independent contribution’’ to buffalo wing culture in the 1960s.