Warm weather and wings: Food columnist Andrew Coppolino hatches a plan for dinner

The humble chicken wing, deep-fried to a crisp, doused in a spicy hot condiment and dipped in a blue cheese sauce is a quintessential bar snack.

The addictive finger food combines the salty and the savoury with a wide range of chili spices making it perfect with a beer on a summer patio.

The wing has been around for a surprisingly long time, too. One place it has said to have taken off was at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y., in the mid-1960s. The recipe of butter, cayenne, hot sauce, blue cheese as well as carrot and celery sticks gave them the name Buffalo wings.

By the 1980s, chicken wings had become nationally recognized when wing-eating contests, purportedly started by a Philadelphia radio station, became something of a craze. The Super Bowl, an occasion on which wings are now sold by the millions, gave them iconic status.

Anatomy of a wing

The shape and form of the wing is pretty simple; think of your own arm in three parts: biceps, forearm and hand.

The little chicken wing can be broken down first into a drumette, a meaty mini-drumstick that is dark meat but sort of with the texture of white meat.

Next, the dual-boned wingette, or oft-called "flat," which is roughly equivalent to the radius and ulna bones of your forearm. This, too, is dark meat. It requires a bit of lingual manipulation to get between the bones — or simply tearing the whole structure apart.

Finally, there is the pointy little tip of the wing which has very little meat and is often removed when a chicken is butchered; however, it can yield a very nice caramelized crunchy bite when cooked properly.

Of course, the enduring argument when it comes to wings, which might be called "stems and flappers," can sometimes get heated: do you prefer the drumette or the wingette?

To bread or not to bread?

This brings us to another debate. While wing fans really love the crispy, piping hot morsels breaded, the original buffalo wing at The Anchor was not breaded.

Instead, it was naked, deep-fried and slathered in a lurid orange-yellow sauce that drips, trickles and drizzles in every conceivable way, in every conceivable place and demands a huge whack of napkins and wet-naps.

A single wing, about 30 grams, breaded and fried will have you eating about 75 calories and five grams of fat. A naked wing has roughly 60 calories and four grams of fat.

Naked wings, of course, are smaller and much cleaner to eat, and if you're pursuing a keto-style diet they have no carbohydrates. Just remember that adding gobs of delicious blue cheese sauce will give the calories a considerable boost, which is the boost of excitement for keto enthusiasts.

Recipe: Naked wings

Ingredients

Chicken wings (optional: trimmed of fat, here and there)

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Salt and pepper

Carrot and celery sticks

Method

Get a deep pot of oil heated to between 350 and 375 degrees F, or use a counter-top deep-fryer.

If wanted, trim the bits of fat from around the drumettes and flats.

With a kitchen towel, pat the wings so they are very dry. Carefully add the wings to the pot of oil or the deep-fryer basket and cook until golden brown, about eight to 10 minutes.

Remove wings from oil and allow to drain for only a few moments.

Put the wings into a large metal mixing bowl and season liberally with salt and pepper. Toss thoroughly and eat with blue cheese dressing and carrot and celery sticks.

Alternative seasoning

While the chicken is cooking, blend together smoked paprika, allspice, garlic powder, cayenne, ground black pepper, oregano and thyme. Toast lightly in a frying pan, sprinkle on the cooked wings and toss thoroughly.