By Corey Poole
The Natchitoches Chamber of Commerce hosted the Crave Natchitoches: Wings Edition at the NSU Recreation Complex May 12. Alliance Compressors won first place and Exchange Bank won the Peoples’ Choice Award.
Teams created their specialties for attendees to taste accompanied by a selection of beers, mixed drinks and frozen margaritas from Maggio’s Package Liquors.
The wing selections included:
- Sabine State Bank-bourbon style wings
- Exchange Bank-remoulade BBQ wings and Caribbean jerk wings with a mango habanero sauce
- Sonic Drive-In-seven varieties of sauces served with boneless wings
- Natchitoches Regional medical Center-garlic wings with a honey-tiger-teriyaki sauce
- Alliance-hot wing shots
- Bank of Montgomery-garlic parmesan wings
Alliance held a chicken wing semi-final competition at the beginning of May to narrow down their entry selection for the Chamber event. The wings were boiled for 30 minutes the night before the event. They were rolled in a cornstarch and egg batter the day of the event and then deep fried until they were golden brown. After marinating them, the wings were then baked for an hour. They were served with Bleu Cheese dressing and celery in a shot glass at the team’s Hawaiian themed table.
Sponsors included the Natchitoches Parish Journal, Sabine State Banks, BOM, MidSouth, City Bank, Exchange Bank, First Federal Bank, Atmos Energy, Walmart, Alliance Compressors, City of Natchitoches, Suddenlink, Moreno Surgical Specialists and Natchitoches Regional Medical Center. A portion of the proceeds funded Chamber internships.