Why are several small stalks of celery generally served with buffalo wings?

zbeckabee

Chicken wings that have been baked or fried and coated with a signature spicy hot sauce and served with bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks have become known all over the world as Buffalo Wings. They have nothing to do with a buffalo but have a lot to do with a restaurant in Buffalo, New York, called the Anchor Bar. They are a tribute to American ingenuity. They use a part of the chicken that was often used for chicken soup or thrown away. They are a tribute also to the "serendipity" that is also a part of our heritage, in that the dish seems to have not been planned but just sort of happened, like lots of things we have in American culture. Although like most dishes there is some question over its true origin, this story is for the most part undisputed. Theresa Bellisimo seems to have stumbled upon this combination quite by accident. http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/AmericanHeritageRecipes/BuffaloWings.htm Aug 17 06, 5:20 PM

denmarks

The celery sticks dipped in blue cheese sauce puts out the "fire" from eating the wings. Aug 17 06, 6:10 PM

BungeeAZ

Correct zbeckabee, a man walked in and asked for something fairly quick, and the bar owner took a fry pan, melted a stick of butter, sauteed the wings and added hot sauce to them...hence Buffalo Wings. They were served with celery and blue cheese dressing on the side. A legend was born. Aug 17 06, 6:54 PM

Brainyblonde

Buffalo, NY (1964)-On a Friday night, Dominic Bellissimo was tending bar at the now infamous Anchor Bar Restaurant in Buffalo, NY. Late that evening a group of Dominic's friends arrived at the bar touting a ravenous appetite. Dominic asked his mother, Teressa to prepare something for his friends to eat. At about midnight, Teressa brought out two plates she had prepared in the kitchen and placed them on the bar. The aroma from the plates captured the attention of Dom and his friends and everyone asked, "What are these?" they looked like chicken wings, a part of the chicken that usually went into the stock pot for soup. Teressa had deep fried the wings and flavored them with a secret sauce. The wings were an instant hit and it didn't take long for people to flock to the bar to experience this new eating sensation. From that point on, Buffalo Wings became a regular part of the menu at the Anchor Bar. http://www.anchorbar.com/origins.asp Aug 17 06, 7:06 PM

Allergic2Life

My question was about the celery sticks not about the wings. Aug 17 06, 7:11 PM

zbeckabee

You really can't have one without the other...it's a tradition you know... ;) Aug 17 06, 7:59 PM

Allergic2Life

Sure you can, I often toss my celery in the trash. Aug 17 06, 8:12 PM

zbeckabee

Blasphemous!!! Aug 17 06, 10:31 PM

tnrees

Allergc2life-note that the chemical that makes food hot is not water soluble so drinking water will not help - you need something with fat or oil (like the bleu cheese) Aug 18 06, 6:29 AM

robboy

Bars generally keep a good supply of celery and assorted drink go-withs, so it was a cheap and handy innovation. I don't much care for picking celery strings from my teeth either, but the crunch and coolness is a nice foil. BTW, A2L said he tosses the veggies, not the bleu cheese. Aug 18 06, 7:17 AM

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Why do they call them Buffalo Wings? If you look carefully at a tree, you will observe that small branches generally stick out at almost right angles from big ones and big branches stick out at smaller angles from each other. Any idea why? Buffalos don't have wings...so why do they called the little spicy chicken drums and wings this? Why are industrial smokestacks generally so tall?

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