Winging It

Sometimes, to bring the best (or craziest) food ideas to the Garden State, a food enthusiast has to venture beyond Jersey borders. Last weekend, the Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, NY, came calling, and I heeded the call.

Now that football season and therefore tailgate season is upon us, I'm here to spill the wing wisdom I learned in Buffalo. Jersey, we need to compete both on and off the field, and that means our gastronomical attitude needs to be as focused and ferocious as our on-field play.

Here are five wing secrets I learned in Buffalo. Rutgers, Jets and Giants faithful: let the games begin.

1. A Good Wing Need No Wingman. None of the wings at the festival were served with blue cheese. When I asked Wing King Drew Cerza, organizer of the festival, why, he said, "Blue cheese just hides the flavor of a not-great sauce." Purists go without. It should be noted that dairy products do calm down the effect of the hottest spices (no amount of beer or water will undo the pain that has been delivered by a fiery wing), so blue cheese can help in that regard. But if your idea of a good wing is one that comes with a side of blue cheese; your wing savvy will be called into question.

2. Untraditional is the New Tradition: We all know that the original wing dressing is Frank's Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, and that the proper way to sauce your wings is to deep fry them, and dunk them in a combination of Frank's and melted butter. Changing the butter to Frank's ratio will moderate/increase the heat; use more Franks for a spicier wing.

Since 1964, when the Buffalo wing was invented at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY, there have been many modifications to that sauce. Some go with a more traditional barbeque sauce, others sweeten it with mango puree, pineapple or even grape jelly. But Buffalo is once again taking the lead with new sauce flavors; this year the festival was all about Spicy Thai Peanut, and Garlic Parmesan. Hands down-favorite: Garlic Parm. If garlic bread and buffalo wings had a child, this is what it would taste like.

3. Sauce, Grill, Sauce: Though traditionalists take their wings from the frier, coat them in sauce and serve, the pro chefs at the festival added two steps that made all the difference in the flavor. After they fry and sauce the wing, they throw them on the grill for a couple minutes, and sauce once more. This develops and evolves the flavor in a sauce, chars and caramelizes it. In addition to adding flavor; this is the perfect approach for tailgating, as you can cook your wings at home, then reheat and finish them on the grill at the tailgate.

4. "Tailgate" Your Wing. There are two parts to the wing: the drumette and the flat. If you take a look at your own arm, the drumette is equivalent to the section between your shoulder and elbow, and the flat is your forearm. Hold one end of the flat in your fingers, and put the rest of the wing in your mouth. Now suck the wing--meat, skin and all--off the wing while you slowly pull the denuded bones from your mouth. The bones should be the shape of an oblong ring; two long bones held together by joints at the ends. Stick the bones on your pinky finger, and rack 'em up. Who da Wing King now?

5. Bobbing for Wings. Had I not seen it; I wouldn't have believed it, and I fully expect to see this at Rutgers tailgates this year. First, grab a kiddie pool. Fill it with blue cheese sauce. Take a couple dozen wings, and toss them in the pool, at intervals. They'll lay on top, so poke them down and be sure to sink them in the blue cheese. Get a couple of competitive friends together; have them kneel down by the side of the pool, hand them each a pair of goggles, and ask them to put their hands behind their backs. Set your timer to three minutes; the contestants have to find the wings -- with their mouths -- remove them from the pool of blue cheese and set them on a plate. The winner is the contestant who has gathered the most wings. This quickly devolves to a slippery, greasy, blue-cheese wrestling type of activity; the smartest competitors will wear bathing suits and hose off after the competition.

Jersey, don't let me down. After you bob for wings, send me your photos and I will put them in this column. Heck, give me advance warming, and I'll show up at your tailgate and compete in your blue cheese pool. Call my bluff on this one, people; I don't kid about wings.

Allison Fishman is a cooking teacher, TV host and author of You Can Trust A Skinny Cook. For delicious humor & recipes, visit allisonfishman.com or follow @allisonfishman on Twitter.