Buffalo Wings

Written By Maurizio Liberante

There are multiple origin stories for the mighty Buffalo wing, however, the most widely told story is that of the Bellissimos who owned Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, USA. At the time, wings were considered good for stock and not eaten as they are now. in 1964, Dominic, the Bellisimos’ son, arrived at the bar late one night with some friends. They needed some midnight snack to go with their beers and Teressa, Dominic’s mother, russled up some deep fried wings tossed in hot cayenne sauce.

Teressa Bellissimo, matriarch of Anchor Bar and creator of the Buffalo wing (if that story is believed)

In the opposite corner to the Bellissimos is a man called John Young who made his way from Alabama, opening a restaurant in Buffalo. He served breaded fried chicken wings with a mambo sauce in 1961. The argument is that he therefore started the wing trend in Buffalo, serving them with sauce. Although Young may have originated the wings and sauce technique, the mambo sauce tossed wings are too far removed from what is now served as a Buffalo wing at Anchor Bar and which has spread across the globe. Mambo sauce is quite different to Buffalo and is more akin to barbeque sauce being tomato based with sweet components like sugar or honey added, umami condiments like soy or Worcestershire sauce, and with acids or tang like pineapple juice to name a few.

 

An example of Buffalo wings from STACKD in Bangor, Northern Ireland

 
Maurizio Liberante