the great buffalo wing sauce "wing-off"...

the kitchen is standing by –

the time has arrived to settle a long-time family 'difference': the wings have been bought and all the ingredients to create the finest wing sauces known to us are on the table.

main ingredients – the hot pepper sauces in contention from l-r: defcon 2, franks redhot extra hot, franks redhot original, louisianna gold and lea & perrins

two families: garrick flying the flag for the fauls and the ogdens represented by darren and glynn; friends in every respect except when it comes to chicken wings! and in the left field, mre with his dynamic defcon 2...and the centre: jono and patrick, the two non-aligned judges.

pat 'n jon ("we're only here to drink beer and eat wings") stay outta the kitchen and get down to some big screen playstation

and there they are ladies and gentlemen: chicken wings, chicken wings and more chicken wings...

team ogden in the mix: strictly local ingredients

kicking off the competition the ogdens get right down to their complex multiple component mix, stirred up by darren with comments and direction from brother glynn.

buffalo wings: formula ogden - slooshy, thick, not too hot and a little sweet

ok, but just a just a little taste then...

garrick coats his last batch in the franks mix while that lovely orange defcon 2 sauce warms up, patiently biding its time...

meanwhile, jon an' pat, beer and braai meisters, take care of the grilling

when wings are braai'ed they are coated afterwards – the traditional faul method. nice, definitely healthier, but nowhere near as crunchy tasty as fried!

traditional buffalo wings faul style (altho these were fried): franks redhot, extra hot and margarine.

blue cheese dip ogden style: glynn keeping it smooth...

wings freshly drenched in defcon 2 - damn, i'm drooling!

garrick whips up a storm - chunky, creamy and oh so cheesy...

garrick's chunky sauce seemed to just pip the post in the blue cheese sauce category (thanks to the gorgonzola) but then glynn's wasn't too bad either.

the harvest: team mre/defcon, team ogden, team faul

and so the munching began...needless to say all of wings were consumed and no real conclusions reached! judging no longer seemed so important any more after such a fantastic feast. me, i reckon defcon was the winner, with the franks® mix a surprisingly close second and the local concoction third (just a little too sweet for me). but then i'm biased...

wings ready to serve: glynn, darren, garrick and mre serve up the wings and the blue cheese dip...

all in all – a great evening of snacking and cold beers. definitely we will have to do this again, maybe next time we have to come up with all different recipes? meantime, i am going to order some defcon 3 and 1 to check them out too, defcon zero seems a little too rare but who knows? and, uh, what other sauces are out there...

its all over! about 130 chicken wings washed down with a few litres of cold beer...burp! and uh, thanks chickens...

and hey, über thanks to dawn and karl for the franks and 'the creator' for the defcon 2!

mre
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chicken wings, chicken wings...

buffalo wings: zingy tasty and crispy fried – a great american tradition and, especially combined with the de-rigeur blue cheese sauce and celery sticks, definitely not a health food! but when they're around they disappear faster than the beer they go so well with. buffalo wings are the ultimate bar snack food but sadly a rare item in south africa where what are called "buffalo wings" are usually just soggy wings drenched in a sticky sweet dark bbq sauce. nothing at all like the anchor bar original. the main reason? franks rehdhot® is just not available here! and its an essential part of the original recipe! if you want it you gotta jump through hoops – either shipping it over at great cost or having it delivered by good friends or family visiting the usa.

the lack of franks has led some to attempt to recreate the flavour using locally available alternatives, while others go the route mentioned above, stocking up with franks in gallon batches where possible. and this brings us to a tale of two families: the fauls and the ogdens, friends, but highly competitive – especially when it comes to wing sauce!

over the years the fauls hung on to the franks, while the ogdens adapted to local conditions. and me? well i just love the damn things and will cartwheel through hoops if necessary. i'll get anything anywhere that promises to be a great wing sauce. i have franks in the cupboard but while its really tasty, i like things a little hotter, so i have a special something none of them have which i add quietly as a secret ingredient to turn up the volume:

so, of course, when i read about defcon sauces and their scovie award for best wing sauce, well, i had to try it. defcon 2 seemed a good place to start. well the shipping cost was outrageous, but hey...who's counting. thanks to the wonders of the internet, credit cards and paypal a box of defcon 2 landed up in my kitchen.

my cousin jono was visiting and needed no convincing to help test the flavour. boyoboy! the colour, the aroma, the flavour, the burn...awesome georgosity! while our mouths were still glowing and the endorphins rushing i jumped onto the mac and issued a challenge via email to the two families: the solution to their feud – neither of their sauces was best, defcon was it!

well, within a few hours it was decided. no-one would surrender and a "wing-off" was the only way to settle this. it just couldn't go any further – and seeing that jono had to get back home to east london on staurday it has to be friday night!

so: friday 21 april 2006 – the great three-way chicken wing sauce "wing-off" at my place...

mre
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curvature...

what is it about black and white that makes photography (and people) look so darn good? whatever it is though it still benefits from a photographer with an eye for composition and superlative lighting skills. of course it sure doesnt hurt to have an awesomely shaped subject too.


go check out the work of bruno bisang and feast your eyes on the light, shadow and a whole ton of divine curves...

mre
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