With a nip in the air and football on television, it it’s time for the quintessential autumn nosh: Buffalo wings.

But it wasn’t always this way. Twenty-five years ago, virtually nobody outside of Buffalo had heard of Buffalo wings. And 25 years before that, chicken wings were primarily thought of as a good base for stock, in and out of Buffalo.

According to lore, that all changed one night in 1964, when some customers arrived at Buffalo’s Anchor Bar and said they were hungry. Bartender Dominic Bellissimo asked his mother, Teressa, if she could whip something up. She took some chicken wings she’d been planning to use for stock, tossed them into the deep-fryer, coated them with a mixture of hot sauce and butter, and served them with a blue cheese dip on the side – and presto, Buffalo wings were born.

The wings were an instant hit. They quickly became a staple, first at the Anchor (which is still going strong, more than 40 years later), then at other Buffalo taverns, then across upstate New York, and, eventually, all over America. Today the term “Buffalo” implies cayenne-driven spiciness – the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, for example, serves a “Buffalo bratwurst” sandwich. I’ve seen Buffalo shrimp, Buffalo potato skins, even Buffalo cheese sticks.

But for Buffalo natives, it’s all about the wings. So I arranged to meet with two Buffalo expatriates who still feel strongly about their home city: Harley Spiller, a 46-year-old teacher and arts administrator, and Leah Archibald, a 40-year-old industrial development consultant and musician. We got together in Ms. Archibald’s Park Slope kitchen to talk wings – and cook them.

“Wings are a point of pride for a city that’s desperately looking for something to talk proud about,” Ms. Archibald said. “The thing is, I don’t think most people even realize ‘Buffalo wings’ refers to the city of Buffalo – they think it’s just this generic term.”

What about the legend of the Anchor Bar? “The Anchor originated the Buffalo wing as we know it,” said Mr. Spiller. “But there’s no simple answer. There was a big black community on Buffalo’s South Side, and they had a place called John White Young’s Wings & Things. I’ve been told they served wings in a spicy sauce, and that may have predated the Anchor.”

As we talked, Mr. Spiller cut up wings he’d purchased at a Chinatown butcher shop called 128 M.S. Trading (123 Mott St., 212-966-0771), which is his favorite. “Their wings are a bit meatier,” he said. “Plus they know me, they’re friendly, and I’ve seen their truck at two of my favorite Chinese restaurants in Queens.”

He’d also brought another Chinatown purchase: Asian celery, which is thinner and less rigid than its American counterpart. “It’s more fragrant, stronger-flavored, and it does a better job of cooling down the fire from the hot sauce,” Mr. Spiller said.

If Mr. Spiller’s ingredients were slightly nontraditional, his cooking method was practically blasphemous: Instead of frying, he pan-browns the wings, then bakes them, and then finishes them in the broiler. “Instead of adding grease, you’re pouring off rendered grease, and it tastes just as good,” he said. “But however you cook them, wings should never be sticky – if you touch one and your finger sticks to it, it’s not done.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Archibald poured peanut oil into a Dutch oven and cut up a batch of supermarket wings, which had been sitting overnight on paper towels in the refrigerator. “It removes the excess moisture,” she explained. “They come out crispy, and you don’t get as much splatter when you fry them.”

While the two Buffalonians – or, ‘lonians, as they call themselves – differed on cooking methods, they agreed that a classic sauce consists primarily of butter and Frank’s Original RedHot Sauce (avoid Frank’s pre-mixed Buffalo Wing Sauce, which is noxious), with the ratio between the two depending on your heat tolerance. In addition, Ms. Archibald likes to add a bit of white vinegar; Mr. Stiller adds hot peppers.

Then there’s the matter of saucing technique. Ms. Archibald puts her wings in a large metal bowl, ladles on some sauce, and then tosses and shimmies the bowl until the wings are coated. Mr. Spiller puts the wings and sauce in a covered container and then shakes them together to achieve a thorough saucing, because “mere shimmying will not achieve that total saturation.”

Despite the different prep styles, the two batches were similarly addictive, with each ‘lonian pronouncing the other’s wings to be suitably authentic. “I wish there were restaurants here in the city that made them properly, but I can’t find any,” Mr. Spiller said. “The closest is the Old Town (45 E. 18th St., 212-529-6732), but when you ask for ‘hot,’ they wreck ’em with lots of extra sauce but no extra heat.”

“Nobody does them right outside of Buffalo,” agreed Ms. Archibald, indulging in a bit of good-natured Buffalo snobbery. “I never order them anywhere else – with the sole exception of Bonnie’s.” That would be Bonnie’s Grill (278 5th Ave., Brooklyn; 718-369-9527),the Park Slope cafe whose owner and chef both hail from Buffalo. “Bonnie’s wings are better than a lot of the wings back home,” said Ms. Archibald. “In Buffalo, everyone makes wings, but some pimply 18-year-old at the fryer isn’t going to do it right. At Bonnie’s, they care, and it shows.”

A recent visit to the Old Town revealed that their wings are indeed near perfect, if perhaps a tad too salty. (Salted butter may be the culprit.) The sauce at Bonnie’s is much hotter, but there’s less of it. I liked both, but if forced to choose, I’d take the Old Town’s version.

As for chicken wings’ nationwide ubiquity, the ‘lonians viewed it with a measure of bemusement. “Back home, we just call them ‘wings,’ so I didn’t even realize they were a Buffalo thing until I left Buffalo,” Ms. Archibald said. “But I didn’t realize men were thin until then, either.”

LEAH ARCHIBALD’S BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS

FOR THE BLUE CHEESE DIP

1 cup mayonnaise
6 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
6 ounces plain nonfat yogurt
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons seasoned rice wine or white wine vinegar

Whisk mayonnaise, yogurt, buttermilk, vinegar, and half of the blue cheese until smooth. Stir in remaining blue cheese and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

FOR THE WINGS

5 lbs. chicken wings, separated into drumette and bow sections (save tips for soup), dried overnight on paper towels in the refrigerator
3/4 cup Frank’s Original RedHot Sauce
1 stick unsalted butter
2 capfuls of white vinegar
Peanut oil for frying

1. Use aluminum foil to create a “collar” on a Dutch oven to prevent splattering. Add peanut oil to a depth of about 4 inches and place over high heat until oil registers 375 degrees on a deep-fat thermometer. Working in batches, place wings in hot oil, stirring frequently with a slotted spoon, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Cook until wings are golden brown, anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter and mix in Frank’s sauce and vinegar for medium-spicy wings. Add more butter to lower spiciness, more sauce to raise spiciness.

3. Place cooked wings in a large bowl, ladle sauce over wings, and toss to coat. Serve hot with blue cheese dip, celery, and carrot sticks.

HARLEY SPILLER’S BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS

FOR THE BLUE CHEESE DIP

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
Juice and pulp of one large lemon
1 cup loosely packed chopped parsley with stem
1 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro, with stem
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup crumbled Danish or Maytag blue cheese
1 tablespoon crushed Vietnamese black peppercorns (available at Asian markets)

Combine all ingredients, stir well, and refrigerate for at least one hour before stirring again and serving cold.

FOR THE WINGS

Olive oil
5 pounds fresh chicken wings, separated into drumettes and bows
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 12-ounce bottle Frank’s Original RedHot Sauce Fresh and dried hot red pepper to taste
1 tablespoon crushed Vietnamese black peppercorns

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a large cast-iron skillet (or several skillets, if necessary), add just enough olive oil to coat the skillet bottom(s) and place over medium heat. Add wings and cook, stirring and turning occasionally, until wings are browned, about 3 or 4 minutes. Transfer skillet(s) to oven and cook, pouring off any rendered fat and turning wings every 15 minutes, until wings are not sticky to the touch, about 45 minutes total. Transfer skillet(s) to broiler for a final browning, about 3 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cook thin slices of hot red pepper and crushed pepper over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until peppers are toasted, about 2 minutes. Add butter and Frank’s sauce and cook until just boiling. Reduce heat to low and keep sauce simmering.

3. Place wings in bowl, ladle on sauce, cover tightly, and shake for about 20 seconds to coat. Serve with blue cheese dip, celery sticks, and Asian celery stalks (available at Asian markets).