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