Egg cream

An egg cream is a classic beverage consisting of chocolate syrup, milk, and seltzer (soda water), probably dating from the late 19th century, and is especially associated with Brooklyn, home of its alleged inventor, candy store owner Louis Auster. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A533792 BBC - h2g2 - The Egg Cream ] ] [ [http://www.newyorkfirst.com/gifts/1002.html NewYorkFirst.com: ] ] [ [http://www.beveragesdirect.com/products/jeffseggcream/ Jeff's New York Egg Cream - BeveragesDirect.com Online Ordering ] ] It contains neither eggs nor cream.

The egg cream is almost exclusively a fountain drink; although there have been several attempts to bottle it, none have been wholly successful, as its fresh taste and characteristic head requires mixing of the ingredients just before drinking. 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.

Name

The origin of the name "egg cream" is constantly debated. Stanley Auster, the grandson of the inventor, has been quoted as saying that the origins of the name are lost in time. [cite|author=John F. Mariani|title=Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink|publisher=Lebhar-Friedman:New York|date=1999] One commonly accepted origin is that Egg is a corruption of the Yiddish word "echt" ("genuine" or "real") and this was a "good cream". It may also have been called an "Egg Cream" because in the late 1800s, there were already many chocolate fountain/dessert drinks using actual eggs (e.g. 'Egg Brin'), and Auster wanted to capitalize on the name.

Another explanation comes from reports that it grew out of a request for "chocolat et crème" from someone who had experienced a similar drink in Paris, which name morphed phonetically into the current version. Yet another plausible answer is that the first version did, in fact, use egg and cream, but due to the food limitations in WWII they were dropped from the recipe. One work from 1859, "Domestic and rural affairs.: The family, farm and gardens, and the domestic animals", does include a recipe that consists of barely more than these two ingredients:

"Egg-Cream.-To the yolks of three eggs, and a dessertspoonful of good new milk or cream, add two drops of oil of cinnamon. This is a very good nourishing mixture. The oil of cinnamon is cordial and tonic, and the above has been recommended in lung complaints..." [Elliot G Storke, "Domestic and rural affairs.: The family, farm and gardens, and the domestic animals," Auburn, N. Y.,: The Auburn publishing company, 1859; page 102]

A similar recipe still was cited at the beginning of the 20th century, but had already dropped the cream:

"EGG CREAM.

The yolks of 6 eggs, 1/2 pint of water, juice of 1 lemon, 2 oz. of sifted sugar, a little cinnamon. Beat up all the ingredients, put the mixture into a saucepan over a sharp fire, and whisk it till quite frothy, taking care not to let it boil; fill into glasses and serve at once." [Thomas R. Allinson, "The Allinson Vegetarian Cookery Book", 1915]

Another from the same year (1915) uses both ingredients, though the intent here seems to be to reinforce whipped egg whites:

"3. EGG CREAM.

2 tablespoons fresh cream, the white of 1 egg.

Put the white of egg on to a plate and beat to a stiff froth with the flat of a knife. (A palette knife is the best.) Then beat the cream into it. This makes a nourishing dressing for either vegetable salad or fruitsalad. Especially suitable for invalids and persons of weak digestion." [Florence Daniel, "The Healthy Life Cook Book", 1915]

This supports another likely explanation for the name, which relates to the fact that the term "egg cream" was a very common term in the past (especially in the United States) for beaten egg whites, and the foam on the top of the beverage resembles these.

Sociologist Daniel Bell claims it was invented by his Uncle Hymie, who owned a candy store on Second Avenue in New York in the 1920's.

In popular culture

In popular culture, the egg cream is often used to evoke a New York atmosphere, as something New Yorkers would typically drink, as something expatriate New Yorkers would particularly miss, or as something completely alien to people not from New York.

In the movie Kramer vs Kramer, Ted Kramer said to his son, that in his day "we had egg cremes which is a little bit of chocolate syrup, a little bit of seltzer water, and a little milk. It tastes delicous!"

In the scifi movie Squirm (film), actor Don Scardino orders an Egg Creme at a lunch counter in the small town of Fly Creek, GA and has to describe it to the southern waitress/owner. Upon drinking it, he discovers a large mutant bloodworm squirming in his glass.

In the children's book Harriet the Spy, set in New York, Harriet orders a chocolate egg cream at a luncheonette. In Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever, egg creams are ordered frequently at Paulie Carbone's candy store in Bensonhurst. In an episode of Who's the Boss, Tony Micelli, an Italian-American from Brooklyn, makes egg creams. In an episode of Hey Arnold! a millionaire loves egg cream so much that he has an egg cream dispensing robot named Mr. Egg Cream. On the long-running children's television program Sesame Street, which is set in New York, Hooper's Store offers egg creams for 25¢.

Jimmy Luxury's "I Love Life" features a woman reminiscing about the good old days when they used to "..drink egg creams and look at the boom boxes." In William Goldman's novel Marathon Man, Babe longs for an egg cream so much that he leaves his flat, where he is supposed to be hiding from potential attackers. In the film "Squirm", a New Yorker has difficulty ordering an egg cream in a small town in Georgia.

On the television show "The West Wing", season 2, episode 3, in a scene that highlights a culture clash between the President's New Hampshire and Toby's Brooklyn, the President drinks an egg cream for the first time: "Toby, I'm drinking the most fantastic thing I've ever tasted in my life: chocolate syrup, cold milk, and seltzer. I know it sounds terrible, but trust me, I don't know where this has been all my life." "It's called an egg cream, Mr. President. We invented it in Brooklyn."

On the television show , in season 4, episode 9, Detective Frank Pembleton orders an egg cream and becomes upset when he receives what he dubs "not an egg cream."

In the episode of Danny Phantom, "Splitting Images", a dorky teen from the 1950s inhabits Danny's body in the present day. He refers to the contents of a soda vending machine as "egg creams".

After the comic book supervillain Black Adam was captured by Captain Marvel, the magic word that gave him his powers was changed from "Shazam!" to "Chocolate egg cream", a phrase he was considered unlikely ever to utter.

In Series 5, Episode 3 of The Golden Girls, Dorothy tries to lure Sophia to a medical checkup with the promise: "Tomorrow we'll go down to Wolfies for an egg cream". After clarifying the flavor Sophia replies enthusiastically: "Oh boy, a Chocolate Egg Cream"

Lou Reed, a New Yorker, wrote a song "Egg Cream" for the album "Set the Twilight Reeling".:"When I was a young man, no bigger than this:A chocolate egg cream was not to be missed:Some U-Bet's Chocolate Syrup, seltzer water mixed with milk:Stir it up into a heady fro', tasted just like silk:You scream, I scream, We all want Egg Cream"

However, in predictable defiance, fellow rock icon Patti Smith is known to claim "egg creams don't have milk," insisting on ordering an Egg Cream only to reprimand the soda jerk when milk is added.

imilar beverages

Other sweet soda- and milk-based beverages include the Vietnamese soda sữa hột gà, a beverage prepared with sweetened condensed milk, egg yolk, and soda water.

ources

External links

* [http://www.foxs-syrups.com/index.html H. Fox & Co., Inc.]
* [http://www.foxs-syrups.com/egg_cream.html Egg cream recipe from H. Fox & Co.]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A533792 H2G2 article on the egg cream]
* [http://www.jaykeller.com/cooking/eggcream.htm Another recipe, which emphasizes that the order of operations is important to achieve an authentic result]
* [http://www.boscoworld.com Home of Bosco Chocolate Syrup]
* [http://www.mrbellersneighborhood.com/story.php?storyid=1916 "The True Origins of the Egg Cream," by Daniel Bell]