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Line 1: {{Short description\|Cold beverage}} An '''egg cream''' is a classic [[New York City]] [[beverage]] consisting of [[chocolate]] [[syrup]] (Almost always [[Fox's U-bet chocolate syrup]].), [[milk]], and [[seltzer]] ([[soda water]]), probably dating from the late [[19th century]], and is especially associated with [[Brooklyn]]. It contains neither [[egg (food)\|eggs]] nor [[cream (food)\|cream]]. The name is probably derived from the white frothy head on the drink, which resembles whipped [[egg white]]s. {{Infobox beverage \| name = Egg cream \| image = Egg cream.JPG \| type = Fountain beverage \| origin = [[United States]] \| color = \| flavor = Various; primarily [[chocolate]], but can be any flavored syrup \| ingredients = [[Flavored syrup]], [[milk]], [[soda water]] \| variants = \| related = \| website = }} An '''egg cream'''<ref name="arcgis Egg Cream">{{cite web \|date=19 December 2019 \|title=The New York Egg Cream \|website=ArcGIS StoryMaps \|url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/305dec8b7c5c4ac38bce5dfd10712743 \|access-date=12 March 2022 \|archive-date=27 November 2023 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127112448/https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/305dec8b7c5c4ac38bce5dfd10712743 \|url-status=live }}</ref> is a cold [[beverage]] consisting of [[milk]], [[carbonated water]], and [[flavored syrup]] (typically [[chocolate syrup\|chocolate]] or [[vanilla syrup\|vanilla]]), as a substitute for an [[ice cream float]].<ref name="epicurus-1824">{{cite web \|last=Stuart \|first=Marcia \|title=The New York Egg Cream \|website=EGO \|publisher=Epicurus.com \|url=https://www.epicurus.com/blog/the-new-york-egg-cream/1824/ \|access-date=12 March 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331195502/https://www.epicurus.com/blog/the-new-york-egg-cream/1824/ \|archive-date=31 March 2015}}</ref> Ideally, the glass is left with {{Frac\|2\|3}} liquid and {{Frac\|1\|3}} foamy [[Beer head\|head]].<ref>{{cite news \|last1=Stern \|first1=Michael \|last2=Stern \|first2=Jane \|date=Jul 10, 1985 \|title=Egg Cream is a delicacy at candy store in Bronx \|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19850710&id=7m5IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ilkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7034,2249395&hl=en \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418082907/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19850710&id=7m5IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ilkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7034,2249395&hl=en \|archive-date=18 April 2016 \|access-date=29 March 2015 \|work=The Evening Independent \|page=3B}}</ref> Despite the name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream.<ref name="thrillist-egg-creams">{{cite web \|last=Arenstein \|first=Noah \|date=2014-11-19 \|title=12 things you didn't know about NYC egg creams \|url=https://www.thrillist.com/drink/new-york/things-you-didn-t-know-about-egg-creams-nyc \|website=[[Thrillist]] \|access-date=12 March 2022 \|archive-date=2022-05-17 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517224152/https://www.thrillist.com/drink/new-york/things-you-didn-t-know-about-egg-creams-nyc \|url-status=live }}</ref> ~~Though almost universally made with chocolate syrup, they were sometimes requested with other [[flavor]]s, especially [[vanilla]] or [[strawberry]].~~ The egg cream is almost exclusively a [[Soda fountain\|fountain]] drink;. ~~although~~Although there have been several attempts to bottle it, none have been wholly successful, as its ~~fresh~~refreshing taste and characteristic [[Beer head\|head]] ~~requires~~require mixing of the ingredients just before drinking.{{citation ~~The drink could be described as a "poor man's ice cream soda," as it has a similar overall flavor, but traditionally sold for only a slight premium over an ordinary fountain soda.~~needed\|date=October 2024}} ==Etymology theories and speculations== ~~According to the Fox's U-bet chocolate syrup website, the recipe for "the original Brooklyn Egg-Cream" is:~~ [[File:Eggcreamparts.JPG\|thumb\|The ingredients of an egg cream: [[Fox's U-bet chocolate syrup\|Fox's U-Bet]] chocolate syrup,<ref name="newyorker-proustian">{{cite magazine \|last=Mead \|first=Rebecca \|date=8 August 2011 \|title=Proustian \|magazine=The New Yorker \|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/08/15/proustian \|access-date=12 March 2022 \|archive-date=30 November 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130221856/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/08/15/proustian \|url-status=live }}</ref> seltzer, and whole milk]] The peculiarity that an egg cream contains neither eggs nor cream has been explained in various ways. Stanley Auster, who claims that his grandfather invented the beverage, has said that the origins of the name are "lost in time."<ref>{{cite book \|last=Mariani \|first=John F. \|date=1999 \|title=Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink \|publisher=Lebhar-Friedman:New York}}</ref> Take a tall, chilled, straight-sided, 8oz. glass Spoon 1 inch of U-bet Chocolate syrup into glass Add 1 inch whole milk Tilt the glass and spray seltzer (from a pressurized cylinder only) off a spoon, to make a big chocolate head Stir, Drink, Enjoy The egg cream originated among [[Yiddish language\|Yiddish]]-speaking [[Eastern European Jews\|Eastern European Jewish]] immigrants in New York City, so one explanation claims that ''egg'' is a corruption of the Yiddish {{lang\|de\|echt}} ('genuine' or 'real'), making an egg cream a "good cream".<ref>{{cite web \|last=Ringler \|first=Rachel \|date=16 June 2021 \|title=What is an egg cream and why is it so Jewish? \|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency \|url=https://www.jta.org/2021/06/16/food/what-is-an-egg-cream-and-why-is-it-so-jewish \|access-date=12 March 2022 \|archive-date=21 December 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221195917/https://www.jta.org/2021/06/16/food/what-is-an-egg-cream-and-why-is-it-so-jewish \|url-status=live }}</ref> ~~[[Lou Reed]], in his song "Egg Cream" from the album ''[[Set the Twilight Reeling]]'', describes it thus:~~ Another explanation comes from reports that it grew out of a request for {{lang\|fr\|chocolat et crème}} from someone, possibly the actor [[Boris Thomashefsky]]<ref>{{cite news \|last=Gould \|first=Jillian \|date=2002 \|title=Candy Stores and Egg Creams \|work=Jews of Brooklyn \|publisher=UPNE \|page=203}}</ref> (who had experienced a similar drink in Paris.)<ref name="whatscookingamerica-nyeggcreamhistory">{{cite web \|last=Stradley \|first=Linda \|date=17 April 2015 \|title=New York Egg Cream Recipe and History \|website=What's Cooking America \|url=https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/nyeggcreamhistory.htm \|access-date=12 March 2022 \|archive-date=20 March 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320040029/https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/nyeggcreamhistory.htm \|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="blogs.nytimes-egg-cream">{{cite news \|last=Lee \|first=Jennifer \|date=5 August 2008 \|title=Can the Egg Cream Make a Comeback? \|work=City Room \|publisher=The New York Times Company \|url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/can-the-egg-cream-make-a-comeback/ \|access-date=12 March 2022 \|archive-date=28 January 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128092933/https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/can-the-egg-cream-make-a-comeback/ \|url-status=live }}</ref> His heavy accent altered the name into something like "egg cream," which then developed into the current term. ~~:"When I was a young man—no bigger than this<br>~~ ~~:A chocolate egg cream was not to be missed<br>~~ ~~:Some U-Bet's Chocolate Syrup, seltzer water mixed with milk<br>~~ ~~:Stir it up into a heady fro—tasted just like silk<br>~~ ~~:You scream, I steam, We all want Egg Cream"~~ However, food historian Andrew Smith writes: "During the 1880s, a popular specialty was made with chocolate syrup, cream, and raw eggs mixed into soda water. In poorer neighborhoods, a less expensive version of this treat was created, called the Egg Cream (made without the eggs or cream)."<ref>{{cite book \|last=Smith \|first=Andrew F. \|date=2014 \|title=New York City: A Food Biography \|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield \|page=111}}</ref> In fact, an 1850 source already presents a similar egg cream, but without the soda water and flavored differently: "How to Make Egg Cream. Take the yolk of an egg, with a dessert spoonful of cream or new milk, and, if convenient, add two drops of oil of cinnamon."<ref>{{cite book \|last=Blake \|first=John Lauris \|date=1850 \|title=The Farmer's Every-day Book: Or, Sketches of Social Life in the Country: with the Popular Elements of Practical and Theoretical Agriculture, and Twelve Hundred Laconics and Apothegms Relating to Ethics, Religion, and General Literature; Also Five Hundred Receipts on Hygeian, Domestic, and Rural Economy \|publisher=Derby, Miller and Company \|page=566}}</ref> In 1885, George Peltz showed the froth being created by whipping the egg: "Egg Cream.—Beat a raw egg to a stiff froth; add a tablespoonful of white sugar and a half wineglass of good blackberry wine; add half a glass of cream; beat together thoroughly, and use at once."<ref>{{cite book \|last=Peltz \|first=George A. \|date=1885 \|title=The Housewife's Library: (many Volumes in One) : Furnishing the Very Best Help in All the Necessities, Intricacies, Emergencies, and Vexations that Puzzle a Housekeeper in Every Department of Her Duties in the Home : Household Management, Domestic Cookery, Home Furnishing, Home Decoration, Polite Deportment, Trying Emergencies, Care of Children, Games, Amusements, Etc., General Hints \|publisher=Edgewood Publishing Company \|page=250}}</ref> ~~Also, in the [[Louise Fitzhugh]] book ''[[Harriet the Spy]]'', an egg cream is Harriet's favourite drink, and she often had one while reviewing here case files in a diner.~~ The term "egg cream" then was in fact used for mixtures that included both before it came to be used - by a process that is not well-documented - for a drink that included neither. ==External link==▼ [http://www.foxs-syrups.com/index.html H. Fox & Co., Inc.] ==See also== [[Category:Soft drinks]]▼ {{portal\|Drink}} [[Category:Milk]]▼ * {{anl\|Dirty soda}} [[Category:American cuisine]]▼ * {{anl\|Italian soda}} [[Category:New York City culture]]▼ * {{anl\|Milkis}} * {{anl\|Pilk}} * {{anl\|Seltzer}} * {{anl\|List of chocolate beverages}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ▲==External ~~link~~links== {{Wiktionary}} {{Commonscat}} {{cite web \|last=Beller \|first=Daniel \|title=The True Origins of the Egg Cream \|website=Mr Beller's Neighborhood \|url=http://www.mrbellersneighborhood.com/story.php?storyid=1916}} {{cite news \|last=Wharton \|first=Rachel \|title=The Return of The Egg Cream \|work=Brooklyn Eats \|publisher=Heritage Radio Network \|url=http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/programs/40-Brooklyn-Eats?page=2 \|access-date=2 January 2011 \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110114005014/http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/programs/40-Brooklyn-Eats?page=2 \|archive-date=14 January 2011}} (Radio episode) {{Jewish cuisine}} {{Chocolate beverages}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Egg Cream}} ▲[[Category:~~Soft~~American drinks]] ▲[[Category:Jewish American cuisine]] [[Category:Chocolate drinks]] ▲[[Category:Cuisine of New York City ~~culture~~]] ▲[[Category:Milk-based drinks]] [[Category:Historical foods in American cuisine]] [[Category:Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine]]