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Mumbo sauce or mambo sauce is a
The trademark Mumbo name was first used by Argia B. Collins Sr., for use in connection with a barbecue sauce he developed for his Chicago restaurant. Since at least as early as 1950, Mr. Collins and his business used this trademark, and his successor-in-interest, Select Brands, LLC, registered the trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 25, 1999, Registration No. 2,247,855. The Mumbo trademark has been used for sauces, and appears on labels as part of the phrase Mumbo® Sauce.
Some people have used the term "Mumbo Sauce" in articles, internet blogs and advertisements for their sauce products, in connection with a sauce said to have originated in Washington, D.C. Chinese restaurants used on chicken wings, French fries, and fried rice. Select Brands has challenged such uses as incorrect and as potential infringements of its Mumbo trademark.
However, according to Capital City Mumbo Sauce, the sauce originated in a restaurant called "Wings-n-Things" in the late 1960s. A "John Young's Wings-n-Things" had been serving Mumbo sauce on chicken wings since the early 1960s in Buffalo, New York, with Young also crediting a Washington, D.C. restaurant for the sauce. (Young's delicacy was somewhat different from the Buffalo wing that the Anchor Bar and Duff's Famous Wings would make famous by the 1970s.) Since Argia's Mumbo Sauce can be traced back to the 1950s (before it showed up at Wings-N-Things) it's speculated that the D.C. version is a transplanted version of the original Chicago sauce. Recently, after two years of court battles, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found that a D.C.-based company could not take the name from its Chicago founder.
In 2018, D.C. Mayor
takeout
A take-out (US, Canada, Philippines) or takeaway (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth English, Commonwealth) is a prepared meal or other food items purchased at a restaurant or fast food outlet with the intent to eat elsewhere. A concept found in many C ...
condiment
A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...
specialty of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
It is similar to barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated as BBQ sauce) is a sauce used as a marinade, basting, condiment, or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork, beef, and chicken. It is a ubiquitous condiment in the Southern United ...
, but somewhat sweeter, and also somewhat spicier or more sour. (There is some variation in flavor and consistency.) It is put onto fried chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
wings, french fries
French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...
, fried jumbo shrimp, and fried rice. The origin and ingredients of Mumbo sauce are subject to great dispute. It is often compared to Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
mild sauce, also a takeout sauce of the city’s Black neighborhoods.
History
The trademark Mumbo name was first used by Argia B. Collins Sr., for use in connection with a barbecue sauce he developed for his Chicago restaurant. Since at least as early as 1950, Mr. Collins and his business used this trademark, and his successor-in-interest, Select Brands, LLC, registered the trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 25, 1999, Registration No. 2,247,855. The Mumbo trademark has been used for sauces, and appears on labels as part of the phrase Mumbo® Sauce.
Some people have used the term "Mumbo Sauce" in articles, internet blogs and advertisements for their sauce products, in connection with a sauce said to have originated in Washington, D.C. Chinese restaurants used on chicken wings, French fries, and fried rice. Select Brands has challenged such uses as incorrect and as potential infringements of its Mumbo trademark.
However, according to Capital City Mumbo Sauce, the sauce originated in a restaurant called "Wings-n-Things" in the late 1960s. A "John Young's Wings-n-Things" had been serving Mumbo sauce on chicken wings since the early 1960s in Buffalo, New York, with Young also crediting a Washington, D.C. restaurant for the sauce. (Young's delicacy was somewhat different from the Buffalo wing that the Anchor Bar and Duff's Famous Wings would make famous by the 1970s.) Since Argia's Mumbo Sauce can be traced back to the 1950s (before it showed up at Wings-N-Things) it's speculated that the D.C. version is a transplanted version of the original Chicago sauce. Recently, after two years of court battles, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found that a D.C.-based company could not take the name from its Chicago founder.
In 2018, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser
Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the current mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously represented th ...
drew national attention when she called Mumbo Sauce "annoying" in a Facebook post. She also questioned whether it was "quintessential" D.C. Her comments sparked controversy, while her spokesperson said that her remarks were meant to liven Thanksgiving discussions.
On October 9, 2023, popular fast-food chain McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
released their own version of the sauce as a limited time offering in their US locations. Alongside the dipping sauce's release, they hosted a media campaign pairing with multiple content creators to promote the product, as well as developing a short YouTube documentary covering the sauce's history.
Cultural references
* The D.C. go-go groupMambo Sauce
Mumbo sauce or mambo sauce is a takeout condiment specialty of Washington, D.C. It is similar to barbecue sauce, but somewhat sweeter, and also somewhat spicier or more sour. (There is some variation in flavor and consistency.) It is put onto f ...
derived their name from the condiment.
* The D.C. hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon performs a song about Mambo sauce.
* Black Flag Brewing Co., a brewery in Columbia, MD has a beer named Mambo Sauce after the sauce.
* Writer Camille Acker features a story called "Mambo Sauce" in her debut short story collection ''Training School for Negro Girls''
* The event series based out of D.C. titled Chicken & Mumbo Sauce
References
External links
* {{portal bar, Food American Chinese cuisine Food and drink in Washington, D.C. Sauces