Wings: the ultimate finger food

Follow a group of college students into a bar and there's a good chance you'll see them ordering chicken wings. The succulent appetizer is Boston's quintessential pub grub.

In addition to the dozens of other places you can get wings, area students now have a branch of the popular Amherst spot the Hangar (called Wings by locals). Wings Over Brookline opened two months ago with 21 aeronautically themed choices, including Buffalo wings named ``jet fuel" and ``afterburner." This and other local spots offer all kinds of wings: Drumettes are coated in hot sauce, boneless wings are served on skewers, chicken is dredged in lively mixtures of spices, marinated in jerk seasonings, or dunked into teriyaki or barbecue sauces. Wings bear names just as creative as their flavors . Sunset Cantina uses the word ``nuclear" to describe its heat. ``Atomic" means scorching, ``no nukes" are safe and subtle. But while chefs are expanding their repertoires of what goes on the little pieces of poultry, Buffalo-style wings are still the classic.

As the story goes, Buffalo wings were born out of a late-night craving. In 1964, Teressa Bellissimo, co-owner of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y., was looking for something to satisfy her son and his friends. She whipped up a batch of fried wings, slathered them with hot sauce, and served up a plate of the succulent little bones with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks. The dish was added to the menu the next day.

Ever since, wings and students have been linked. As an appetizer or study-break finger food, wings are quick, cheap, and available just about everywhere beer is on tap. Some establishments have taken the traditional recipe and fiddled with it. Now you can even order boneless wings on a stick.

At Wings Over Brookline, general manager Colin Hennessey estimates that there are 26,000 students living within his delivery area. ``If only 10 percent order a DC-3, our smallest order, a week, we will be set," he says.

Hot, sticky, and messy, wings are not first date fodder. Share them instead with good friends. From the Parish Cafe overlooking the Public Garden to Allston's Wing-It, we set out to see what was around and who could handle the heat.