With great BBQ, you have to have a great marinade and what's better than a side of chicken wings?
Anna Silver got a chance to take a look at Oma and Popie's Wing Dressin' & More where a couple took their love for chicken wings and turned it into their business.
"It started in Twin at the Oasis," said Gail Zarr "Oma," co-founder of Oma & Popie's Wing Dressin' & More.
Jan and Gail had just started dating.
"I wanted to show him a really good wing, so it was kind of the first introduction to wings. We were going there for the 25 cent wings every Tuesday," said Gail Zarr.
Jan and Gail say they have traveled for the past nine years and have visited a lot of dive bars and chicken wings joints.
"It just became our adventure to go do wings across the country with his work and so we'd always hit up the diviest bars," said Gail Zarr.
Jan and Gail say they thought all the wing sauces tasted about the same so they started experimenting in their kitchen while they were in Kentucky.
Gail came up with the original recipe and Jan added to it.
"When we were in Kentucky, they actually had a place where they allowed us to bring it in. We'd order the naked wings and we'd toss them and for our friends and so say ok what do you think about this and they'd give us some feedback," said Jan Allan Zarr "Popie," co-founder of Oma & Popie's Wing Dressin' & More.
Jan says the couple moved back to Idaho about a year ago to start a business after running performing arts centers for more than 20 years.
Today, Jan is making the original recipe, "Wingin It."
He soaks dried peppers shipped from Mexico and blends them into a paste. From there, garlic, onion, spices, and the peppers, and cane sugar are added to a steam kettle with a mixture of white vinegar, apple cider vinegar and filtered water.
As for the name, Jan says his son called him pops and when his grandkids were born, his daughter-in-law called him "Popie."
"For Gail, she was too young to be called grandma and so she wanted to be called Oma," said Jan Allan Zarr.
Now, Oma and Popie's wing sauce is in eight stores in the Treasure Valley and they hope to expand more.
"We wanted to come back home and we thought it was a good enough product, we could bring it home and make it work so that's what we're trying to do," said Gail Zarr.
Oma and Popie's Wing Dressin' and More has only been in business since last January.
You can catch them at the Boise Farmer's Market and the Nampa Farmer's Market. They will also be at this year's "Wing Off" at Julius Kleiner Memorial Park in Meridian on June 17th.
To find out more, head to their website here, https://www.omaandpopies.com/
