You can thank Atlanta for creating Lemon Pepper Wings

Buffalo and its namesake sauce may reign supreme in the world of chicken wings, but if there’s one regional specialty that gives it a run for its money, it’s Atlanta’s favorite lemon pepper. Hot and spicy counterpoint to the hot and spicy upstate New York wing, lemon pepper wings have been around for decades. However, they have ridden a wave of popularity over the past 10 years, becoming the South’s ying to Buffalo’s yang. His fame isn’t just touted by a single source, as praise comes from hip-hop hits, NBA stars and TV shows like FX’s “Atlanta.” But where do these wings actually come from? And how did Atlanta claim them?

The origins of lemon pepper seasoning aren’t really clear. Lemons and black peppercorns come from India, and the combination of lemon zest and pepper is sometimes used in Indian dishes, but there is no obvious story about how the two were made the jump to the United States. What we do know is that its cachet evolved from a complex web of hip-hop culture and the unexpected quality of food at Atlanta strip clubs, particularly the iconic club Magic City. Magic City chefs took particular pride in the quality of Southern cuisine, and during the ’90s the club became a hot spot in the city’s emerging music scene, helping to spread the popularity of lemon wings and pepper throughout the city.

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Lemon Pepper Wings Were Atlanta Eaters’ Way to Tame Hot Sauce

There is no “original” place that created lemon pepper wings in Atlanta, or at least not one that has come forward to claim so. Instead, they appear to have been an innovation born of taste necessity. While lemon pepper wings typically use a dry rub or butter sauce with the spice blend, in Atlanta there is a popular way to prepare them called “lemon pepper wet” which mixes Buffalo sauce with seasoning with lemon pepper. This is the style that was featured on “Atlanta,” from another wing institution called JR Crickets, and it appears to be how lemon pepper was first popularized. According to local fans, lemon pepper seasoning was a way to temper the heat of Buffalo hot sauce.

As for when the dry-rub style took off, it’s speculated that it was due to the messiness of the original, particularly in the early 2000s when white tees were a popular look in rap and hip-hop. whoops. From there, they’ve been mentioned in songs by artists like Lizzo, Drake, and Rick Ross, who loves Wingstop’s lemon-pepper flavor so much that he owns nearly 30 franchises. Whatever the exact origins of lemon pepper in Atlanta, the spice and wings have become the city’s signature flavor, and all of us wing lovers can all appreciate the results.

Read the original article on the tasting table