BUFFALO, N.Y. — No two families fry up chicken the same way.
"I grew up in my dad’s restaurant," says Lina Brown Young. "Fixing wings and other things that he was selling."
Her family's recipe is a famous one in Buffalo. "Mumbo Wings" were a hit at John Young's Wings N' Things in the early 1960s, slightly predating Anchor Bar's chicken wing recipe. Lina follows it pretty closely.
What You Need To Know
- Lina Brown Young, daughter of Buffalo restauranteur John Young, is selling her father's famous Mumbo Wings at monthly pop-ups at the Broadway Market in Buffalo
- Her father started selling Mumbo Wings just before Anchor Bar's chicken wings became popular
- Mumbo Wings are slightly different than the traditional chicken wing; wings are battered and fried whole rather divided into drums and flats, and the sauce is sweet instead of spicy
"This is as close as I remember my father doing. He does have a written recipe that I’m looking for," she says. "I saw it a few years ago, and I’m still searching through some of our family things. Since I worked in the restaurant, I do remember, pretty much, how we made it."
Anchor Bar is typically credited with inventing the chicken wing as we know it. John's version may be older, but there are some noticeable differences.
"He said to cut the wing was to adulterate the wing," says Lina. She batters and fries the whole wing instead of dividing it. "So we have a drum and a flat with a tip on it. Sell it the way a wing comes. That’s the way chickens fly."
John passed away in 1998, but his wings and his sweet Mumbo sauce live on. Lina is selling them at monthly pop-ups to raise money for a mural to commemorate him and his culinary contributions.
"That’s my intention," she says. "For people to remember, bring back some memories for them. And to introduce some new memories to others."
The next Mumbo Wing Pop-Up will be on Wednesday, March 31. If you want to sign up to learn about future pop-up dates, click here. You can also donate to the mural fund here.