The story goes that back in 1964 Dominic Bellissimo was behind the taps at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY when some hungry buddies stopped by. Dom asked his mom Teressa to prepare something for his friends to eat. The kitchen was a little bare, but she did have some leftover chicken wings she was saving for soup. She threw them into the fryer, added some sauce and spices. And just like that the city became known for something other than being the birthplace of President Millard Fillmore.
Teressa's invention led to an entire industry. About a billion servings make their way to tables every year, with many paying homage to the original flavor and its tantalizing mix of butter and Frank's hot sauce. Variations abound, from the relatively sedate lemon-pepper to the more exotic mango-habanero. They have become a staple of football tailgates and parties, and appear on menus as appetizers and main courses. One time I even made a condition of leaving a family vacation to fly to Buffalo for a meeting that an order from the Anchor Bar be waiting in my hotel room. The client gladly complied, but I'm embarrassed that it did reinforce one of my favorite sayings: while everyone has a price, it's a shame how low it usually is.
That demand for a formerly throwaway foodstuff has meant that supply can also be challenging. While producers ramp up stockpiles in advance of three-day weekends and Super Bowl Sunday, a ravenous populace can still experience periodic shortages. Most recently increased demand was fed by a desire for comfort foods during the pandemic, as well as bad winter weather in poultry producing regions. The USDA reported that slaughter was down 4% in the first quarter of 2021, and pounds produced down 3%. The result, as National Chicken Council spokesman Tom Super said, is that there is "very tight supply but short of a shortage."
To be sure there are workarounds, most notably the appearance of so called "boneless wings." Not wings at all, but rather breast meat cut into approximately wing size nuggets, this blasphemy to purists got some press last year when a man in Lincoln, Nebraska asked the local city council to pass an ordinance requiring a relabel. As Ander Christensen noted, "Nothing about boneless chicken wings actually comes from the wing of a chicken. We've been living a lie for far too long." His impassioned plea garnered 5 million views on Twitter, showing just how deep sentiment runs on this topic.
But now there is an attempt to deal with the problem with transparency rather than sleight of hand. With wings having gone from 98 cents per pound a year ago to $3.22 today, it's as much an economic necessity as supply imbalance. And so Wingstop, a chain known for, well, wings, has rolled out a virtual offshoot called – wait for it – Thighstop. Currently only available online for takeout and delivery as opposed to dine-in, they offer a limited menu featuring many of the same flavors people have come to expect, just based on that other appendage. You can get them bone-in or boneless, though these boneless are the real McCoy, not some substitute body part.
With thighs going for about half the costs of wings, restaurants and connoisseurs of dark meat both make out. Over time our household has come to prefer thighs for their flavor, availability and adaptability to various recipes, but we're in the minority. By and large Americans prefer white meat for its nuggets, sandwiches and parms. Says Charlie Morrison, Chairman and CEO of Wingstop, "Thighs just don't get the appreciation they deserve."
So as summer dawns, perhaps those of you with a wing fixation need to take stock. You can still savor your celery and ranch accompaniments, but for the main event cast your eyes a little lower. Perhaps it is apropos as we approach the Fourth to paraphrase actor Bill Pullman from the movie Independence Day: "Should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, 'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on, we're going to survive.' Today we celebrate our independence day. With thighs!"
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Marc Wollin of Bedford has a go-to summer favorite of dry rubbed grilled thighs. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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