Ron Welch holds a sacred text—one which he argued could change Buffalo forever. Naturally, that sacred text is a chicken wing sauce recipe.
In recent years, Welch, a senior professional and creative writing major, and his father carefully developed the recipe. Prior, the recipe was
formed from 30 years of trial and error on his father’s part.
A few months ago, Welch made the decision to participate in the National Buffalo Chicken Wing Festival—an annual event around an hour-and-a-half north of the Bonaventure campus. And Welch said he was determined to provide his father “proof of concept,” as he’d been skeptical about how others might react to the safeguarded sauce.
Welch said that his father told him, “You can run with it” when he decided to participate in this year’s competition and, so, Welch did just that.
Competing against four others in the amateur best traditional wing sauce division, Welch had to bring all the supplies necessary for concocting his spicy creation.
“They only provided the wings and a propane stove,” Welch said. “I had to bring the pots, pans, spices and all that stuff.”
Welch, who had attended the event once before, added that he only had 15 minutes to make his sauce, lather the wings and present his creation to a panel of four judges. The most notable judge: Scott Lowery, the founder of Buffalo Wild Wings.
Contestants’ sauces were judged off of three pre-determined categories: taste, flavor profile and presentation.
While taste refers to the initial, overall taste of the sauce, “flavor profile” is the way the tastes blend together, Welch said.
While he admitted he may have struggled in the “presentation” portion of the judge’s evaluation, Welch said that he was confident no sauce could beat the taste of his family’s.
Although Welch ended up taking home the first place prize, entitling him to a Frank’s Red Hot apron, engraved plate and set of Cutco knives, he said the validation winning provided was the biggest achievement of the day.
As the announcer preceded Welch’s victory with the phrase, “it was almost prophesied,” Welch said his family, watching the event unfold from California via live tweets, erupted in applause, much like the few thousand people attending the competition.
“The real reason I wanted to do this is because this sauce is so good that I’ve been trying to convince [my father] to open a business with this,” Welch said. “I think I definitely got [proof of concept] because he keeps telling me how happy he is that I went and participated.”
As he continues perfecting his award-winning sauce, Welch said he feels a growing calling to make a business out of the recipe.
Even though he plans to obtain his bachelor’s degree this spring, Welch added that his studies fall second to his saucy passion.
An Audible Inc. voice actor, having narrated novellas such as Ayn Rand’s Anthem, a participant in mock trial and, now, a sauce fanatic, Welch said he’s realized the importance of trying new things.
Welch added that, in keeping an open mind, he’s found a calling in something he never expected.
“I think the thing is that if there’s anything you find interesting at all, you should always just try your hand at it to see if you’re good at it,” Welch said. “If you have an idea for a business, then you should achieve.”
mcgurllt14@bonaventure.edu
