The latest popular style in chicken wings in America is "garbage."
People love to eat these wings at bars or take them home, often with cold beers.
In St. Louis, Missouri, and nearby areas, there's a chicken wing style known as "trash wings." In Connecticut, they call them "dirt wings."
These wings are fried twice with hot sauce in between. This makes the skin very crispy but keeps the meat juicy.
Over 30 years, these wings have become a favorite casual food in both these places.
Zach Jalbert, a customer at Fenton Bar and Grill in Missouri, likes to dip his wings in extra sauce. He exclaimed, "Look at that! It’s beautiful. Wow!" as he admired a wing before eating it.
Trash or dirt wings might become very popular across the U.S. in 2024. This could change a 60-year tradition that started with Buffalo wings in New York in 1964.
Drew Cerza, known as America's "Wing King" and the founder of the National Buffalo Wing Festival, enjoys when people try new things with wings.
"I love it when people step outside the box," Cerza said. "That's how cool new things are created."
Trash wings are called that because frying them a second time with sauce ruins the cooking oil.
J. Timothy’s Taverne in Connecticut is where dirt wings were first made.
The popular bar snack was created by accident, according to Rino Ouellet, the beverage director there.
J. Timothy’s had a softball team of young players and one older pitcher in his 40s, nicknamed "Dirt," when it opened about 30 years ago.
The other players thought Dirt seemed really old.
One day, Dirt ordered wings but went for a cigarette, leaving them to get cold.
When he came back, he asked to reheat his wings. They became very popular right away.
"Pretty soon the entire softball team was coming in asking for Dirt’s wings," said Oullet.
Dirt wings have become a favorite snack at pubs and sports bars all over Connecticut.
Trash wings started in St. Louis around the same time as dirt wings in New England, about 30 years ago. It seems like a coincidence that both styles appeared at the same time.
Fenton's claims to be the "home of the trashed wing."
However, St. Louis magazine says they were actually created somewhere else.
Billy Gianino Jr., from Billy G’s in Kirkwood, told a news outlet in 2022 that his father began making trashed wings 30 years ago at Frankie G‘s Grill and Bar in Oakville.
The article mentions that Chuck Nash, the general manager of Fenton’s, partially confirmed the story told by Billy Gianino Jr.
"The trashed wing is a phenomenal culinary delight and is now synonymous with St. Louis casual cuisine," Pat Imig of Imig Communications, a big time foodie, said.
Dirt and trash wings, famous in Connecticut and Missouri, are now being served in Chicago, New York City, and even London.
In Buffalo, New York, there's a similar type of wing. After frying and saucing, these are grilled, according to Drew Cerza.
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