Egg cream
Type | Fountain beverage |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States |
Flavour | Various; primary chocolate, but can be any flavored syrup |
Ingredients | Flavored syrup, milk, soda water |
An egg cream is a cold beverage consisting of milk, carbonated water, and flavored syrup (typically chocolate or vanilla). Despite the name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream.
It is prepared by pouring syrup into the glass, adding milk, lightly stirring it with a spoon, then streaming soda water into the glass, mixing the other ingredients. Ideally, the glass is left with 2/3 liquid and 1/3 foamy head.[1]
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 refreshing taste and characteristic head require mixing of the ingredients just before drinking.
Etymology theories and speculations
The peculiarity that an egg cream contains neither eggs nor cream has been explained in various ways. Stanley Auster, the grandson of the beverage's alleged inventor, has said that the origins of the name are lost in time.[2]
It is generally assumed that the egg cream originated among Yiddish-speaking Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City, so one explanation claims that egg is a corruption of the Yiddish echt 'genuine or real', making an egg cream a "good cream".[citation needed]
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)."[3]
Another explanation comes from reports that it grew out of a request for chocolat et crème from someone, possibly the actor Boris Thomashefsky[4] who had experienced a similar drink in Paris, which according to his heavy accent morphed the name into something like "egg cream", which then developed into the current term.
Celebration
To celebrate the egg cream and the many handmade drinks of the soda fountain, a group of independent soda fountain operators have declared March 15 as National Egg Cream Day.[5]
See also
References
- ^ "Egg Cream is a delicacy at candy store in Bronx". The Evening Independent. Jul 10, 1985. p. 3B. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
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(help) - ^ Mariani, John F. (1999). Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink. Lebhar-Friedman:New York.
- ^ Smith, Andrew F. (2014). New York City: A Food Biography. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 111.
- ^ Gould, Jillian (2002). "Candy Stores and Egg Creams". Jews of Brooklyn. UPNE. p. 203.
- ^ "National Egg Cream Day". www.eggcreamday.com.
External links
- Beller, Daniel. "The True Origins of the Egg Cream". Mr Beller's Neighborhood.
- "Egg Cream". Gerritsen Beach.
- "Egg cream". h2g2.
- "Egg cream recipe". H. Fox & Co. Archived from the original on 2006-08-10.
- "Egg Cream recipe". JayKeller.com.
- National Egg Cream Day @ eggcreamday.com
- Wharton, Rachel. "The Return of The Egg Cream". Brooklyn Eats. Heritage Radio Network. Archived from the original on 14 January 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2011. (Radio episode)