Buffalo Wings
I headed to Buffalo, New York, birthplace of the buffalo chicken wing,
to take on Wing King Drew Drew Cerza is the founder of the National Buffalo Wing Festival, the “Super Bowl” of the wing industry, where more than half a million people from across the country have sampled more than 100 different varieties of wings . . . oh yeah, that’s over 1 million wings. Along the way, Drew’s festival has raised over $100,000 for Buffalo -area charitie s. He deserves his crown. Always thrilled to help promote his hometown and its wings, Drew happily agreed to be a part of a special highlighting the country’s best spicy foods, Food Network’s “Hall of Flame.” He planned a party at the historic Anchor Bar in Cerza.
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Buffalo for his segment and had no idea that
“It was Take Your Daughter to Work Day, which my twelve -year-old, Nicole, and I have partic ipated in for years. So that day Nicole was by my side and a big part of the show. It was a very specia l bondin g moment for us. And she became a supers tar to her friend s in school when the show came out.” —Dre w Cerza Name: Drew Cerza Hometow n: Buffalo, New York Website : ww w.buffa low ing.com Phone: (716) 565-4141, ext. 12
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I would be heating things up with a surprise of my own.
Dave Botticelli of Duff’s Famous Wings in Amherst, New York, and Syracuse student and chicken–wing lover Greg Bacorn sat down to ivity. judge our wings on flavor, texture, and creat e subtl a with juicy and hy, crunc , crispy Mine were my heat that built with time. But they didn’t love presentation and found the jicama a little a confusing. Drew’s wings were moist and had two had wings These . flavor ced smooth, balan hard totally different tastes and the judges had a gave they end, the time deciding on a winner. In Drew the win, saying his wings were juicier and loving his sauce and celer y sticks. When you go up against someone referred to that as the “Wing King,” there is always a chance truly is Drew But did. I And you just might lose. one of the nicest and probably one of the most respectful competitors that I have gone up against. Hats off to the Wing King.
Bu ffa l o W ing s
case file: 2.11
On this EpISode of Throwdown!.. .
The key to good chicken wings is not to overcook them ; the texture should be nice and crispy on the outside with a perfectly cooked, juicy interior. They need heat— just the right for amount of burn— and a touch of sweetness tions varia wing of balance. Drew has hundreds this up his sleeve, and the one he brings out for s. Wing lo Buffa t Stree on Bourb his is ion occas The sweet and tangy sauce is made with chili sauce, ancho chile, barbecue sauce, and it bourbon. I had to get my own wing down, so en. kitch test the to was off In the test kitchen, I sprinkled my wings with salt and pepper and then dredged them in ancho -seasoned flour before their bath in the deep -fryer. Everyone knows that the key to hot : wings is the hot sauce, so I set to work on mine ar, vineg er, powd ancho chipotle, mustard, more and a little honey to cut the acidity. The hot , sauce is added to melted butter, and the wings re. mixtu hot out of the fryer, are tossed in the The classic dip is typically a mixture of mayonnaise, sour cream, and a domestic blue d cheese. My dip is a riff on that, made instea d grate little a with thick and tangy Greek yogurt, e, chees blue ite favor my red onion, cilantro, and in a Spanish Cabrales. Crisp jicama sticks stand y. for celer Recipe in hand, I went up to Buffalo to find Drew. Now, this challenge was in the early days of Throwdown ! when many people weren’t familiar with the show, and I definitely threw to Drew for a loop. It took him a few moments after But on. going was get his head around what s, friend with ns ltatio consu and a few phone calls n bega We ! battle to ready and board on he was to working on our dishes and Drew came over liked He elf. hims for s check out my ingredient my combination of sweet and heat, calling the mustard a nice addition. Once the wings were cooked and sauced, we each got to try the other’s wings. Drew has one word for mine : he “awesome.” He said it was the crispiest wing is that and out— dried ’t wasn that had ever had I But King. high praise coming from the Wing have to give it to the King: his wing is perfectly cooked and I loved its sweet sauce.