It’s That Culinary Marvel The Chicken

What can you do with a chicken? If you look in an encyclopedia you will find that the chicken or Gallus Gallus is a type of domesticated fowl which probably descended from the wild Indian or Southeast Asian Red Junglefowl. You must also keep in mind that when mentioning chicken this is what we ask for at the supermarket however when it’s still walking around it’s commonly called a hen, its mate a rooster and the family offspring a chick. They are in demand by people for their eggs and meat.

As a type of food chicken was first mentioned:
• In Chinese documents around 1400 BC
• 600 BC shown in Babylonian carvings
• in the Middle Ages it was one of the most common available meats
• the different types of chickens eaten all over Europe were capons, pullets or hens.

When beef and pork were not readily available during WWII Americans turned to the chicken for food. In 1996 the consumption of chicken in Europe surpassed that of beef or veal. Two of the most common breed of chicken eaten in the US are Cornish and White Rock.

The chickens which are especially raised for their meat are called broilers and butchered at a young age. Practically most everything of the chicken is edible. Commonly the whole chicken consists of chicken parts – breasts, legs, thighs, wings, chicken innards – liver, heart and gizzard. In Chinese cuisine they also use the chicken feet.

A raw chicken can be frozen for up to 2 months. The many ways a chicken can be prepared is astounding. It can be eaten hot or cold, made into sausages, patties, put in salads, grilled, baked, sautéed, fried, stewed and used in curries.
Of course if there is no time to cook you can always get take out chicken. Two of the most popular are Kentucky Fried Chicken and Popeye’s Chicken and Chinese take out BBQ chicken is fantastic.

As a 1928 presidential slogan said – "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." Herbert Hoover. No mention of this "cluck" can be complete without mentioning those very famous, very tasty –Buffalo Wings

They are also known as chicken wings or hot wings (in Southern US). Standard sauce for this fantastic concoction is made up of only two ingredients: a vinegar based hot sauce and margarine or butter. These wings were named after the city of Buffalo, NY from which they originated. However people there call them "chicken wings" or just "wings".

Buffalo wings may also be served with sauce on the side as well as celery and carrot sticks and blue cheese dip. Traditional wings are made with Frank’s Hot Sauce one of the mildest hot sauces.

Buffalo wings were first prepared at The Anchor Bar (est. 1935) located at 1047 Main St. between North and Summer Street in Buffalo, NY on Oct. 3, 1964 by Teressa Bellissimo co – owner with her husband Frank. Her son Dominick and several college friends arrived at The Anchor Bar late one night and Teressa was wondering what to serve them. She came up with the idea of deep frying chicken wings which were usually left for stock and dipping them in hot sauce. Afterwards she also served them to her customers. The origin of Buffalo wings has also been disputed by two more places in Buffalo – Duff’s and Rootie’s Pump Room. Since the latter is no longer in business their claims have not been confirmed. A rivalry between Duff’s and The Anchor Bar continues to this day. Rootie’s Pump Room although no longer in business still produces Rootie’s brand blue cheese dip, the most popular dip in the Western NY region.

Since the chicken and the buffalo or bison have nothing in common, not even a distant ancestry this fact has been used to emphasize the humor of the situation.
For example:

• An early Bartle’s and James commercial "To be honest I didn’t even know they could fly."

• A "Newlyweds" episode has Jessica Simpson explaining why she didn’t order Buffalo wings – "I don’t eat buffalo."

• Winged buffalo have been depicted on logos for wing sauces and restaurants.
The popularity of these wings has grown so that now there are chain restaurants which specialize in them.

There are also competitive eating events for Buffalo wings such as Philadelphia’s Wing Bowl and at the National Buffalo Wing Festival held every Labor Day in downtown Buffalo, NY.

Variants on Buffalo wings:

• Breaded wings which soak up the hot sauce and make them not as messy bur can wind up tasting like regular fried chicken.

• "Boneless wings" which actually even though prepared the same way remind one of chicken strips or tenders and are prepared from chicken breast meat.

• "Buffalo lips" bite size nuggets, flour coated, deep fried and soaked in Tabasco – butter sauce.

Some wing restaurants also offer the consumer a choice of wings with other styles of sauces such as Cajun or Caribbean style jerk spices. Other variations are wings fried, tossed with BBQ sauce and placed on a grill to quickly char them. So the variations are very many. However despite all the tasty choices true Buffalo wing purists so not look upon them as true Buffalo wings and would never consider them as such. The restaurants which serve Buffalo wings frequently also serve other dishes referred to as "bar food" such as cheese sticks, pizza logs, potato skins and so on.

Due to their popularity there are even "documented" best practice eating techniques for them such as the small bone twist and smash technique. So the next time you’re hotly declaring to someone "when pigs fly…" think about flying buffalo and bite into a delicious batch of Buffalo wings.