Classic Buffalo Wings

Dry wings thoroughly - moisture is the enemy of crispy skin. Double-frying (fry once, rest, fry again) creates extra crispy wings. The sauce ratio can be adjusted - more butter for milder, more hot sauce for spicier. Always serve with blue cheese, never ranch, for authentic Buffalo style.

Buffalo wings are one of the most precisely documented culinary inventions in American food history. Wikipedia, Britannica, and the Anchor Bar itself all confirm the same account: the dish was invented on the night of October 30, 1964, at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, by co-owner Teressa Bellissimo. The received story is that Teressa improvised the preparation late at night when a shipment of chicken wings arrived by mistake; she deep-fried the wings and tossed them in a sauce of Frank's RedHot hot sauce and butter. Frank's RedHot, originally produced by Adams Extract Company in New Iberia, Louisiana since 1920, became the defining ingredient — its particular cayenne-and-vinegar profile became the standard against which all other buffalo sauces are measured. Blue cheese dressing and celery sticks were served as accompaniments. The dish spread from Buffalo's bar culture through the 1970s and reached national consciousness in the 1980s as casual-dining chains adopted it and the growing sports-bar industry made wings the definitive game-watching food. The city of Buffalo formally recognizes the Anchor Bar as the birthplace of the buffalo wing, and Buffalo itself holds an annual Chicken Wing Festival. The preparation launched an entire category of American flavor — "buffalo style" — that has since been applied to pizza, shrimp, cauliflower, and dozens of other foods.