By Sandra Scott

What do wings and Waldorf salad have in common with spiedies and salt potatoes? They all originated in New York state along with other favorites. Every area of New York state has its local favorites but some are world famous.

Buffaloes may not have wings but the Anchor Bar in Buffalo does. The Anchor Bar was the birthplace of the world-famous Buffalo wings. Late on a Friday night in 1964, Dominic Bellissimo was tending bar at the Anchor Bar Restaurant when a group of his friends arrived looking for something to stave off their hanger pangs. Teressa, Dominic’s mother, deep-fried the chicken wings usually destined for the soup stockpot. Flavored with her secret sauce, the wings were an instant hit and the word spread — worldwide. Although many have tried to duplicate the original Buffalo wings, the closely guarded secret recipe is what makes the Anchor Bar home to the “Best Wings in the World.” Regardless, Buffalo wings are on the menu of most restaurants.

Two favorite menu items owe their popularity to New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Waldorf salad was an instant success when it was created by the hotel’s maître d’hôtel, Oscar Tshcirky in 1896.

The original version of the salad contained apples, celery and mayonnaise served on a bed of lettuce. Chopped walnuts later became an integral part of the dish.

Thousand Island dressing was born in Clayton. Legend has it that around the turn of the century, Sophia LaLonde, wife of a 1000 Islands fishing guide, shared her dressing recipe with a prominent stage actress named May Irwin, who dubbed it Thousand Island dressing. Irwin gave the recipe to fellow 1000 Islands summer visitor George C. Boldt who was in the process of having a castle built. Boldt, the owner of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, instructed that it be included on the hotel’s menu where it was introduced to the world.

Saratoga Springs can boast that it is the home of two American favorites — potato chips and the club sandwich. The original potato chip recipe was created in

Saratoga Springs in 1853. It seems that in 1853 a wealthy guest was dining at Moon’s Lake House where George Crum worked as a cook. The specialty of the house was Moon’s Fried Potatoes, which were cut in thick slices. A guest, perhaps a bit ornery from the summer heat, sent his order back declaring they were too thick and soggy. When the second order was also sent back Crum was not appreciative of the criticism so he sliced the potatoes as thin as he could, fried them to a fare-the-well, and salted them thinking he had made them impossible to eat with a fork. Much to Crum’s surprise the patron loved them and ordered a second serving. The word spread and soon others were ordering Crum’s Chips.

Most sources credit John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, with inventing the sandwich in 1781 but people had been putting meat between slabs of bread for generations. However, the club sandwich owes its existence to Danny Mears, a line cook at the famous Saratoga Club House, an exclusive gambling establishment that did not allow women or locals in their gambling rooms. A traditional club sandwich has three slices of toasted bread with a bottom layer of turkey and the top layer of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.

In 1845 Peter Cooper patented a gelatin product but it never “jelled.” Then in 1897, Pearle Wait of LeRoy, came up with a fruit flavored dessert gelatin, which his wife named Jell-O. In 1899 he sold his formula to a fellow townsman for the sum of $450. The formula’s new owner sent out salesmen in “spanking new rigs, drawn by beautiful horses” to promote this new product destined to make dessert preparation easier for the housewife. As the saying goes, the rest is history. Visitors can learn all about “America’s Most Famous Dessert” at the Jell-O Museum in LeRoy.

The Binghamton area is home of the speidie. A speidie is made of cubes of meat, usually chicken or pork but any meat will do, marinated overnight in the special spiedie marinade, grilled — preferable over a charcoal fire — and served on Italian bread or a submarine roll. The traditional spiedie marinade is made of olive oil, vinegar, a variety of Italian spices and fresh mint. A Spiedie Fest has been held in Binghamton every August since 1983.

A New York City favorite, the egg cream is an interesting beverage because it contains neither eggs nor cream. It is made of chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer water. It is thought to have originated with Louis Auster of Brooklyn in the late 1800s. The fountain drink is similar to an ice cream soda without the ice cream. Some say the name is a corruption of “Grade A Cream” which was used to make the drink while others say it comes from the German word for “echt” meaning “genuine” or “real.”

A local favorite hard to find outside Central New York owes its existence to the salt deposits near Syracuse, the “Salt City.” During the 18th century workers in the salt industry on Onondaga Lake, most of whom were Irish immigrants, would cook their lunch of potatoes in the salty brine. The tasty treats are best served with plenty of butter. The salt industry is no more but visitors can learn about it at the Salt Museum in Liverpool.

Some foods such as the Coney Island hot dog and hamburger have such a convoluted past that it is hard to pin down their exact origins.

Others are variations of established foods such as Long Island duck derived from Peking Duck. Long Island was once known as the “Duck Capital of the World” and the famous Big Duck in Flanders is still a favorite tourist stop.

Local favorites or world famous, New York state is home to “food, glorious food.”

By Mary Beth Roach

Years before TV’s mega-hit “Dancing With The Stars” was even a twinkle, Donna Natale O’Neil, Dennis Deland and Geno Aureli were offering dance instruction in Central New York. And while the three instructors credit the popular show for an increased interest in ballroom dancing across all age groups, many of their students say it was a long-time desire to dance and the opportunity for fun and exercise that inspired them to kick up their heels and enroll in classes.

Suzy Tankersley, 60, of Syracuse, has always enjoyed dancing, so her husband, Clint, 61, gave her three dance lessons for Christmas a few years ago. He figured that the lessons might satisfy her desire to dance.
What Clint didn’t figure on, however, was that he would enjoy it as much as she does. They’ve been taking classes at O’Neil’s Puttin’ on the Ritz, located at Driver’s Village in Cicero, for more than two years now, and they have found it not only to be good exercise, but they’ve been able to create new friendships.

And although Suzy jokes that “it’s harder than it looks,” her smile as she glides across the floor belies her comment.

“It’s a better workout than you think, without dripping sweat,” according to O’Neil.

To stay on their toes, many take what they’ve learned each week to any number of dances offered throughout the Syracuse area.

Gerry Youngs, who assists Deland with instruction at the OCM BOCES location in Liverpool with Walt Medicis Associates, will often attend dances outside of class, and will dance for two to three hours.
“You’ll get a good workout — a lot of cardio,” the Cato resident said. “You can work at it as hard as you want.”

Because people can so easily adjust the pace at which they want to dance, it is a great activity for those age 50 and older, said National Dance Association’s Marian Simpson in an article titled “Let’s Dance To Health” that appears on AARP.org.

“Dancing can give you a great mind-body workout,” the story reads. “Researchers are learning that regular physical activity in general can help keep your body, including your brain, healthy as you age. Exercise increases the level of brain chemicals that encourage nerve cells to grow. And dancing that requires you to remember dance steps and sequences boosts brain power by improving memory skills.”
Local instructors agree.

“The learning process is a significant mental challenge,” said Aureli, who runs All for the Love of Dancing. “When they make the decision to learn to dance, they have to learn to move and use their bodies in new ways. Correct posture, proper dance position, the many and varied foot patterns, arm and head styling, learning to lead or to follow and add in the fact that it all changes from dance to dance and you can see that there is plenty of room for mental exercise!”

Deland said that in his class they learn the steps, and from there, the students can create their own patterns, which, he said, means they have to think ahead.

But the benefits go well beyond the physical and mental aspects. The students emphasized that they enjoy the opportunity to meet new people and to do something as a couple.

“This is something you can do together for the rest of your lives,” said Kennatta O’Brien, 55, of Syracuse, who attends classes at Puttin’ on the Ritz, with her friend, Ron Adams, 60, of Parish.

While helping each other through cross-body positions or outside under-arm turns, students and instructors will chat while “cha-chaing” or swap stories while doing the samba. The easy camaraderie among the students creates a comfortable and enjoyable setting for them to learn.

“I kind of feel like a social director,” quipped O’Neil, adding that it’s important to her for the students to get to know each other, to make new friends.

Toward the end, she hosts barbecues for the students, dances with live bands about six times a year for both students and the general public in the Court at Driver’s Village, and CD dances in her studio every few weeks.

Aureli and his wife host an open ballroom dance on the first and third Saturday of every month, and on any given night, half of those in attendance are seniors, he said.

Do you think you have two left feet? Convinced you won’t like it? Instructors and students alike say these are not reasons to sit the dance out.

There is a fear factor, Aureli admitted, but it is “very do-able. Don’t ever feel you can’t do this.”

“Non-dancers can dance,” O’Brien said, and all those interviewed agree that dancing is a learned skill.

And Deland was one of those who decided before he even started that he wasn’t going to like it. But he was mistaken, he said, adding that he felt that he belonged immediately, and after a relatively short period of time, he became an instructor.

And even if you don’t have a dance partner, join in anyway, people interviewed for this story said.

It didn’t stop Harriette Taylor, 55, of Phoenix, who likes to dance so much she attends the classes at Puttin’ on the Ritz by herself. And some of the instruction at the BOCES program is structured so that the partners rotate, leaving no one out for very long.

And Dennis Goodrich, 55, of Geddes, takes a weekly class with his wife, Linda, at Puttin’ on the Ritz, but sometimes he’ll come solo for another class so he can memorize the patterns and get a step up on his ability to lead.

And some have even found romance along with the dance.

Deland said that a few of his students have fallen in love and gotten married. And now, they were well prepared to dance at their wedding.

Rosie Ryan’s got the right idea.

“Get out and do something,” she said, during a lesson with Aureli. And Rosie practices what she preaches. The 66-year-old Minoa resident walks four miles every other day and had taken line dancing for four years before starting with Aureli’s class.

“Give it a try,” she added.