Meet the American who gave the world Buffalo wings
Teressa Bellissimo served the very first batch of Buffalo wings at Anchor Bar on March 4, 1964. They're now America's most iconic appetizer.
The NFL televises a big football game on Sunday to celebrate America's intense love of chicken wings.
At least that's how it appears to many people.
"Every guy on the Chiefs and the 49ers will wish he were home watching football eating Buffalo wings on Super Bowl Sunday," Drew Cerza, dubbed the "Wing King," decreed to Fox News Digital — the edict issued from his royal palace of poultry in Buffalo, New York.
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His Royal Highness of Hot Sauce may be right.
Americans will consume 1.45 billion chicken wings during the great American pageant of pigskin and poultry, according to the National Chicken Council.
"Wing King" Drew Cerza is shown proclaiming Miki Sudo the victor over Joey Chestnut at the 2022 National Buffalo Wing Festival. Sudo ate 233 chicken wings in 12 minutes, compared to 224 for Chestnut. (Courtesy Drew Cerza)
That's the equivalent of 693 wings on every seat in all 30 NFL stadiums, the council claimed, adding that all but one state counts wings as its favorite Super Bowl food.
(Maine prefers lobster.)
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Cerza founded the National Buffalo Wing Festival in 2002. It's held each September at Highmark Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills.
America's best wing makers serve 300,000 wings to 25,000 connoisseurs of the chicken arts in just two days.
Zach Jalbert, a customer at Fenton Bar and Grill in Fenton, Missouri, called its locally famous trash wings "beautiful." (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
Double Dub's of Laramie, Wyoming, was crowned Festival Favorite in 2023.
Cerza's reign over the nation's largest chicken wing festival puts him at the forefront of industry trends heading into Super Bowl Sunday.
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The pressure of the big day means most Americans opt for a conservative game plan.
About 75% of wings eaten will be traditional medium to hot Buffalo wings, he said.
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Barbecue wings will be the top target for fans winging it downfield.
Expect a big performance, Cerza said, by Rookie of the Year Cajun lemon pepper wings.
Wendell's is a hidden-gem hot-wing joint in Norton, Massachusetts, offering what loyal fans say are the best wings in the nation. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
His pre-game analysis indicates that 70% of Americans will go deep with their wings into the ranch dressing.
The rest will blitz their wings with blue cheese.
Cerza laments that his beloved Buffalo Bills have never won the Super Bowl.
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But his city has served a higher calling.
"Buffalo wings have been to every Super Bowl," said Cerza.
"And they've won every year."
