Buffalo Wings: How did this chicken appetizer originate?

Have you ever sat with a bucket of deep-fried chicken wings coated in spicy vinegar and pepper-based red sauce and made a complete mess of yourself? How? By ruining your clothes and making your hands and faces dirty. Well, welcome to the club of buffalo wing lovers. Yes, that is what they are called and are named after Buffalo, the New York city where it was invented. It has no connection to the animal buffalo whatsoever. So yes, it is one of your most common misnomers. Now that is settled, let us concentrate on the disputed origin stories of these hot and spicy chicken wings. There are two versions. Let us dig deep into both.

The story of a 12-year-old picky eater  
Your favourite buffalo wings are only 59 years old. They were first served at a family-owned restaurant called Anchor Bar in 1964 in mid-town Buffalo, New York. According to one theory, buffalo wings owe their birth to a 12-year-old named Teressa Bellissimo, the daughter of the owner. How? Well, her mother was desperate to feed her celery and other green vegetables. But like any child, she refused to have them. However, one day, she agreed on one condition. She would eat them on the side of her favourite deep-fried crispy chicken wings (without any coating) and she would dip them in her own special sauce made from cayenne pepper, vinegar and melted butter. The demands don’t end here. The chicken wings would either be in the shape of a flap or a drumette, and not a drumstick. Her mother agreed and the rest if of course history. Interestingly, apart from celery, the kid also had blue cheese with these buffalo wings and even made it her own regular midnight snack. 

The surplus chicken wings theory 
Another story suggests that the Anchor Bar used to serve different kinds of chicken dishes for which they needed all kinds of chicken parts. However, one day, it accidentally received a shipment of only chicken wings. Of course, no one knew what to do with them until the head chef figured out that a Super Bowl (American football league) game was on and the bar was full of men drinking beer and wanting to have a snack alongside, all while enjoying the match. This is when he used the surplus wings in his home-made special sauce (the same recipe as mentioned) and served them hot and delicious. Needless to say, they were an instant hit. What’s interesting is that, as per the rest of the story, Teressa’s brother Dominic was present in the bar during the match with his friends and had requested their mother to impress the group with a brand-new recipe. Whatever be the case, looks like the Bellissimo family and the Anchor Bar deserve our thanks for this lip-smacking dish. 

The Buffalo Wing Festival 
Until 1977, the Anchor Bar managed to keep their recipe a secret. But it was soon revealed by a local journalist who is said to have bribed one of the workers for it. Then, it spread across other food joints in the state of New York, but they too managed to keep it to themselves. However, in the late 1980s, it spread across the country, and it became a sensation when in 1993 a Philadelphia-based radio station organised the first Annual Wing Bowl eating contest that happened right after the Super Bowl final in July. Over the years, it has turned into the Buffalo Wing Festival and draws thousands of competitors and audience from all over the world. Spanning over two days (during the weekend), an estimated 30 tonnes of buffalo wings are consumed during this festival today.