When the Losers Club reunites in Derry after twenty-seven years away in IT (1986), they definitely have a memorable meal as It welcomes them home with its own monstrous flair. They dig into a shared feast: “The food was not stunningly good, but it was far from bad, and there was a lot of it. The six of them began trading stuff back and forth—spare ribs, moo goo gai pan, chicken wings that had been delicately braised, egg rolls, water chestnuts wrapped in bacon, strips of beef that had been threaded onto wooden skewers” (497). Amidst the laughter and rediscovered familiarity, there are also moments of grief (Stan’s absence) and terror (the horrific fortune cookies that serve as the finale of their meal). 

There are a wide range of delicious dishes to choose from here and the one Carle-Sanders picks for Castle Rock Kitchen is those “Delicately Braised Wings.” These are a savory, delicious twist on the average chicken wing and as Mama Garraty explains in the recipe’s introduction, “For a change from fried, this recipe uses the red cooking method from Shanghai, braising the chicken wings in a dark, sticky sauce” (63). 

(It feels like there’s a potentially untold story here or an avenue worth speculating about—how does Mama Garraty know about international cooking methods when the world of The Long Walk has basically fallen apart, with no one ever making it too far from home? She mentions an “Auntie Mae” in the recipe introduction, hinting at family traditions and recipes passed down from one generation to the next, though this is a bit hard to reconcile with the barbaric, dystopian hellscape in which she and her son Ray live, in which movement and food supplies are both incredibly limited. While this is a thought-provoking question, any answer we can come up with would be pure invention, not really connected to or drawing from King’s world in The Long Walk, so it also feels like a bit of a dead end. But it’s always worth pausing to notice these moments when we realize how much we don’t know, how many untold stories there are for every one that we read. We don’t know much about Mama Garraty after all, and we have no insight into her history, her thoughts, or her inner life. While we may not necessarily buy into Carle-Sanders’ improvisation here, it’s still a tip of the hat to those peripheral characters whose stories remain largely untold). 

Anyway, back to the chicken wings. The texture of the wings is crispy and tender, achieved through a combination of blanching, braising, and broiling, and the sauce ingredients and cooking process result in richly layered and savory flavors. The Losers’ hands might have gotten a little sticky as they ate these, but what’s a little sauce among friends? And the informality of the sharing of food and the messiness of the eating are a culinary counterpoint to the relationships, ease, and camaraderie that they are rediscovering within themselves. 

When I made my trip to Bangor in October, I got to town a while before I could check into my Airbnb and taking the interstate through town, found myself out by the mall. When I headed to Bangor/Derry, my intent that first day was to wander around, gather initial impressions, and not really follow any particular itinerary or checklist of specific sites or things to do. Just get the lay of the land, you could say. As I pulled up to a stoplight, I saw an Asian fusion restaurant and pulled in for an early lunch. I had dumplings and a dish called Long Life Noodles (which seemed like a good luck choice as I settled in for a few days in Derry) and everything was delicious. 

But it turned out I’d chosen the wrong exit in my explorations, because not too far down the road was Oriental Jade, which is a frequent stop for King fans and Derry tourists, and which had an inventive IT-themed menu to mark the release of Andy Muschietti’s IT, Chapter 1 in 2017. I didn’t spend much time out by the mall during my time in Bangor and actually didn’t see the sign for the Oriental Jade until my last day there, on my way out of town. After checking out their menus online, I’ve been kicking myself ever since. Oriental Jade is definitely on my list of must-stops next time I’m in Bangor. Until then, I’ll just keep delicately braising these wings and double checking my fortune cookies.

Check out Castle Rock Kitchen here: https://outlanderkitchen.com/castle-rock-kitchen
[Page numbers are from the 2017 film-tie in edition of IT]