Origin Of Buffalo Wings

Here is a bit of trivia for all of us who love Buffalo flavored anything (amazing to see how much this flavor has grown around the globe), but never knew how this delicious flavor originally got its name. Oh, and I must not be alone with a positive review because the Anchor Bar sells over 1000 pounds, yes, one thousand pounds, of Buffalo wings currently every single day. Anchor Bar was opened in Buffalo, New York in 1935 by Frank and Teressa Bellissio. Well, there's the answer to what Buffalo means when it was actually chicken!

In 1964 their son, Dominic, was tending bar when a group of his friends arrived wanting something to satisfy their hunger. So, Dominic asked his mom to come up with something for his friends to eat. Teressa decided to deep fry chicken wings that were normally used back then for soup stock or were just thrown away. She dipped them in hot sauce and margarine, and other secret ingredients, and set out blue cheese for dipping sauce. After that, they were served as hors d'oeuvres at the bar and were initially offered for free, but the word quickly spread and people were flocking to the bar to take a taste, so they quickly became a regular on the menu.

I am not sure when the celery became a standard to serve with them but they are a perfect companion. If anyone knows who introduced the celery I would love to know. :-)

By Deeli from Richland, WA

Editor's Note: Here is a link to Wikipedia's article on Buffalo Wings. It states "While the wings were deep frying, Teressa decided to serve left over celery sticks with blue cheese to her son and his friends to tide them over." There are other versions of the origin there as well.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_wing