54 | FEBRUARY 18 • 2021 

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

Let’s Talk … Chicken!
I

apologize. I should have written 
this Looking Back earlier this 
month. My subject — chicken 
wings — would have been perfect 
reading for Super Bowl weekend.
I know, I know. You are asking your-
self — why the heck would he write 
about chicken wings? 
Well, I decided to explore the sub-
ject after reading an 
article about Masbia, a 
New York kosher emer-
gency food provider. 
It was experiencing a 
severe shortage of kosher 
chicken wings, which 
are a cheap source of 
good protein. Moreover, 
the shortage was Super 
Bowl-related since chicken wings are a 
popular party food and TV-watching 
sports snack and, according to the 
National Chicken Council, “the per-
fect pairing with a pitcher of beer.” 
A search in the William Davidson 
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit 
History bears out the popularity of 
chicken wings. I found 233 pages that 
mention chicken wings and another 
18 that cite Buffalo wings, that hot 
and spice variety of chicken wings 
invented in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in 
Buffalo, New York. 
Now, to be sure, chicken wing men-
tions in the JN are most often found 
in grocery store or kosher meat mar-
ket advertisements. Indeed, the first 
citation for chicken wings was an ad 
for Reisman’s Kosher Poultry Market 
on Seven Mile in Detroit ($.49 per 
pound) in the Oct. 23, 1964, issue of 
the JN. And, by the way, long before 
the COVID-19 pandemic, Reisman’s 
would deliver your food to you.
The first mention of restaurant 
chicken wings was in Danny Raskin’s 
“Best of Everything” column in the 
Nov. 3, 1967, issue of the JN. It seems 

that Danny had taken a fancy to the 
fare at the Golden Galleon, which 
included “Tahitian Drums of Heaven,” 
which he described as tasty “barbe-
qued chicken wings made into tiny 
drumsticks.” 
Over the past 40 years, chicken 
wings have become increasingly pop-
ular in restaurants. It is a rare tavern 
or family-style restaurant that does 
not offer chicken wings. Proof of this 
can be found in numerous columns 
by Danny Raskin, and other JN food 
writers over the years such as Ryan 
Fishman and Esther Allweiss Ingber, 
that mention chicken wings in their 
restaurant reviews.
Then, there are the chicken wings 
in the home. A family profile in the 
April 4, 1999, JN features Noah and 
Cherie Levi and their kids — Lani, 
Estee, Raffi and Chava Reena — and 
their weekly Shabbat celebrations. 
While their menu varied, there was 
always one staple on it. You guessed it. 
Chicken wings! The kids loved them. 
Now that the kids are older, I wonder 
if they still eat their chicken wings on 
Friday night?
Finally, there are the recipes that 
have been published over the years. 
See Betty Rosbottom’s “Hot and Sassy 
Wings” in the March 3, 1997, issue 
of the JN. Or for an Asian twist, see 
the recipe for Teriyaki Wings (Dec. 
6, 1985). This was the earliest publi-
cation of a chicken wing recipe that 
I could find. Or as a munchie for the 
Super Bowl, “Brown Sugar Glazed 
Lemon Ginger Chicken Wings” (Feb. 
3, 2011).
The story of chicken wings and 
Jewish Detroit is an interesting one. 
Perhaps, it could be considered anoth-
er perfect pairing? 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN 
Foundation archives, available for free 
at www.djnfoundation.org.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

