On my epic journey through the menu at Avenue M with my mom, I encountered a basket of very excellent wings!

Chef Andrew McLeod has been following the AVL Wing Thing podcast and posts from the beginning, so I don’t think it was any coincidence that a bright red pile of his n’duja dry rub wings showed up at the table.

Visually, they were very cute. They were perhaps some of the smallest in size I’ve had so far, but I’m not “size queen” when it comes to wings. Big, little, medium-sized, I don’t care, as long as they’re tasty and cooked right. These li’l wings were both of those things!

N’duja is a spicy, spreadable pork-based sausage, originally from Calabria, Southern Italy. If you’re having difficulty saying the word, you’re not alone. Below are four links to four different ways to pronounce it. The third one is pretty much just wrong, I think. I also found it spelled 3 different ways, with  the apostrophe moving around, or disappearing all together. I’ll pronounce it the American way, which is “en-doo-ya.”

USA / UK – N’duja

Learn It with Radhika – ‘Nduja

How To Pronounce – N’duja

Pobably Wrong – Nduja

No matter how you say it, someone will correct you, so have it! And by that, I mean have at this delicious spreadable sausage, and say it any way you want, because it’s great, and fuck the world!

The “King Salumi” brand n’duja dry rub that Chef Andrew uses on his wings is spice-blend of his own creation, that will soon be produced for retail sale by the great local spice company, Spicewalla. The Chef also has a delicious miso mustard that will be available for the public to purchase soon as well.

These wings hit all the right notes with me: A light, crispy skin, a unique and delicious coating, the meat came right off the bone, and it was all presented in a charming, classic, red-and-white-checkered-paper-in-basket motif, which was fun and whimsical, if not typical of Avenue M’s usually more serious and artistic plating and esthetic. Although the crudité was not on the same level as the wings themselves, this basket scores high on my WIngometer!

I did write a comprehensive review of the entire meal, [ Avenue M – A Feast of Epic Proportions in North Asheville ] but in the meantime, GET THEM WINGS!

To keep up with the AVL Wing Thing, watch the newest episodes the Asheville Food Fans podcast with me and Rick and sometimes Luis!

Wings up!

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