A Basket of Wings

I love chicken wings. I’ve loved chicken wings for a long long time. Buffalo wings were a favorite of mine years before I even know about Frank’s Red Hot or the existence of a place called The Anchor Bar.

Since then, wings have become a national phenomenon. The market price for chicken wings has skyrocketed. At the beginning this little flap of mostly skin and bone was pretty much considered worthless. Now the wing business is a goldmine.

Dagnabit.

The good things always get discovered. And when they do, they somehow get stupid expensive. I guess that’s supply and demand in action. Besides being cheaper, an order of wings was also larger. Generous places would sell them by the dozen. These days it’s much more common to see wings in orders of ten. But it’s not unheard of to see an order of eight.

There are some who lament the declining number of wings in their basket. But I can’t say that I’m one of them. As much as I love wings, having fewer of them in an order actually makes me happy for a few of reasons.

Most importantly, fried foods in general and wings in particular, are best the moment they are served. As they cool, and their butter sauce congeals, the texture declines dramatically. Never ever order wings for takeout. I mean, what’s the point?

The first hot bite of a Buffalo wing is amazing. Sometimes, they are even a bit too hot, and the second wing is a bit better just because it doesn’t fill your mouth with the searing pain of blisteringly hot oil. The third wing is fine. But eventually they begin to decline. The fifth isn’t nearly as good as the first. And sometimes I find that by the eighth, eating these things is more of a chore than a delight.

Don’t get me wrong, I can eat an entire order of wings. My appetite is robust, especially for foods that I love. It’s just that smaller orders help to prevent tragic wing cooldowns. I would much rather share a small order of wings with a friend, and then order a second one just to make sure that I’m eating these fine foods at the peak of their perfection.

It’s why I’ll never order two slices of pizza at the same time, unless there’s some emergency. Sure, it costs a little bit more to order like this, but it’s totally worth it.

Perhaps you think that jumping through such hoops is totally ridiculous. Well, maybe I should remind you about just how bad Buffalo wings are for you. They are so bad that it’s almost impossible to find nutritional information for them online. It’s crazy.

Thankfully, the good folks at epicurious posted a recipe, and here is what they found for a serving of their Buffalo wings. Note that the below is for three wing segments (that’s technically just one and a half actual wings) that have been fried in vegetable oil and tossed with a butter based hot sauce:

– 362 calories
– 34 grams of fat (52%)
– 8 grams of sat fat (40%)
– 805 milligrams of sodium (34%)
– 72 milligrams of cholesterol (24%)

Six wings would be twice that. Twelve wings would weigh in over 1400 calories and two days worth of your total fat. That’s not counting any accompanying blue cheese either, or the beer or french fries you have on the side.

So maybe it’s worth while to think about splitting a small order of eight with a friend. Four really great wings are still a treat in my book. And from a dietary perspective, they are still a splurge.

Remember, we are all subject to palate fatigue. Sure, you can always reach for some celery and blue cheese dressing to reset your taste buds and get you primed for another fiery morsel. However, the bulk of the pleasure you’re going to receive from an order of wings is in the first few bites.

I say eat fewer wings, but enjoy them more often. Because those things are delicious, but they are just awful for you. And given their caloric load, do you really want to eat one that’s not amazing?