Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 5th 2007, 10:32am By Christa Glennie Seychew

I spent a lot of time at the 6th Annual National Buffalo Wing Festival this past weekend, an event I have never before attended. A lot of records were set, most of which you've probably already heard, but I would be remiss to not mention. For starters Sonya Thomas, aka “The Black Widow” ate her way through 173 wings (over 5.5 lbs) in twelve minutes, and on Sunday competed in another eating contest called “The Buffalo Buffet Bowl” where she took only six minutes of the alloted eight to eat over 8 lbs. of Buffalo-themed food like beef on weck and pizza. The crowd itself was a record, with close to 74,000 visitors--I assure you that that number is not at all exaggerated--and 25 tons of chicken wings were consumed--that's 50,000 lbs.

Perhaps the most exciting thing I experienced was the fact that the festival provided the chance to introduce our great city to people from all over the country. I spoke with approximately 100 people over the course of the weekend and found a very small percentage of them were actually WNY residents. Most came from Canada, Cleveland, Erie, and Pittsburgh, with some from as far away as California and Hawaii. Everyone I spoke with was thrilled with the event, the city--and obviously--the glorious weather.

The Wings

There were wings, wings, wings, and at two for a buck it was easy and affordable to sample a good percentage of the offerings from over 30 restaurants represented. As the Wing King says, "Anyone can do mild, medium and hot", and he's right. Not to downplay the beauty of a wing covered with good old Frank's, but my goal was to taste as many of the non-traditional wings as I could. I'd like to tell you about a few of my favorites.

First up is the Thai Ginger & Garlic wing from Hurricane Grill & Wings, a chain of restaurants from South Florida. Tossed in mandarin orange juice, ginger, and garlic and then coated in chopped, toasted cashews and thinly-sliced scallions, it was a real winner. If I made these myself, I would turn the heat up a little bit, but with plenty of fresh scallions sprinkled on the exterior it was very, very good. The crunch and nuttiness of the cashews really added something, a great contrast in texture and flavors. I could eat a lot of these.

Another wing I really enjoyed was offered up from Brickyard BBQ of Lewiston, NY. Brickyard smoked their wings, a method which imparted a unique flavor and texture to the meat. The smoking process causes the chicken to be moist and tender, but I don't personally care for the effect that it has on the skin, making it almost viscous. They offered two versions of their smoked wings, one with a BBQ sauce and another with a great rub; so good in fact, that I purchased a bottle to take home.

My favorite wing of the weekend came from Captain Spongefoot Trading Company of Granby, CO. They presented a variety of sauces to choose from, like their potent “Z Sauce” made with Sriracha sauce and “a touch” of wasabi, a wing that I saw bring tears to the eyes of a group of bikers I was eating next to. But my favorite of theirs, and of all the wings I had a chance to try, was the wing sporting their Cranberry Chipotle sauce. The sweetness of cranberries is obvious, but their tartness helped make this more than just a sweet and savory pairing. The heat was in the back of the throat while eating, but left a sexy buzz on the lips afterwards. A good wing, all in all.

I also tried some Buffalo-inspired foods from Danny's, a restaurant with locations in Orchard Park near the stadium, and also in Cheektowaga. They offered up a potato-based Chicken Wing soup made with Frank's Hot Sauce, bleu cheese, celery, carrots, onions, and of course chicken, as well as a Beef-on-Weck wing, tossed in what seemed to be like a thick beef gravy and coated with rock salt and caraway seeds. Danny's considers themselves a restaurant that specializes in "Buffalo Cuisine", a claim that seems reasonable considering the aforementioned items.

The Foodie

Then there was the "Creative Wing" contest, in which amateur competitors prepare their recipe for a 'wing that sings' on the main stage in front of a large crowd and judges from the Food Network and a PBS program called Roadside Attractions. This year's finalists included a father/daughter team preparing a wing that included Guinness beer and BBQ sauce; one of the nation's top competitive eaters, using a sweet and savory sauce that included a dose of bourbon and a propane torch brulee; a woman who served a Pina Colada aside her island-inspired wings; and a gentleman with Caribbean wings, served aside fried plantains. But, the winner of the event, Brant Longest from San Jose, CA, really went all out.

Longest served up a wing like no other. First, he used rice bran oil, an oil with a smoking point of 490 degrees. This is quite a remarkable move in itself, allowing him the ability to flash fry his wings in about 4 minutes (roughly a third of the average cook time). This method instantly liquefies the fat under the chicken wing skin, causing it to meld instantly with the rub he developed, a mixture that predominately featured miso powder, onion powder and white pepper. After the wings were cooked, they were tossed in a sauce made of plum wine, fresh coriander and cave aged black garlic, a tremendously rare and difficult to find ingredient. Longest sources his black garlic from a little Asian market called Ranch 99 in San Jose.

With ingredients like those, and a unique understanding of cooking methods, you might think that Longest was a professional chef, but you'd be wrong. He makes his living as a manager for a software company. I didn't have the chance to taste Longest's wing, but I'm hoping to have the opportunity to spend some time with him next year if he returns to Buffalo to defend his title. Maybe I can get him to cook some up for me then.

A Tip From the Wing King

Interested in trying to develop your own custom sauce? I am, but I don't own a deep fryer and am disinclined to leave of couple gallons of hot, gurgling oil on my gas stove. So what's a girl to do? Drew “The Wing King” Cerza suggests that you simply call your local pizza delivery joint, order 'em naked and toss them in your own homemade sauce when they arrive.