flipChocolate egg cream (no egg, no cream)
Chocolate egg cream (no egg, no cream)
Why this dish? The egg cream is New York's comfort drink, sold forever at the counters of candy stores and delis in Queens. A frothy treat for a few cents, the little sweet pleasure you treat yourself to on the corner — exactly the kind of daily comfort for neighborhood kids.
A fizzy, frothy New York drink, despite its misleading name with no egg or cream: chocolate syrup, cold milk and seltzer water, whipped to form a tight white foam on top.
I gotta tell you something: the egg cream, there's no egg or cream in it, go figure! It's a New York name, that's all. When you were little, you'd go into the candy store, the guy would make it for you at the counter: the chocolate syrup at the bottom, the milk, and then he'd hit it with the seltzer water in one sharp pour to raise a tight white foam. You drink it fast, while it's still fizzing, before the foam falls. It's the neighborhood sugar, the two-bit luxury.
- •Chocolate syrup (like Fox's U-Bet) — a glass bottom (cocoa sweetness)
- •Whole milk, very cold — a little (creamy body)
- •Seltzer water (pressurized) — to fill (fizz and foam)
Chocolate egg cream (no egg, no cream)
A fizzy, frothy New York drink, despite its misleading name with no egg or cream: chocolate syrup, cold milk and seltzer water, whipped to form a tight white foam on top.
Why this dish? The egg cream is New York's comfort drink, sold forever at the counters of candy stores and delis in Queens. A frothy treat for a few cents, the little sweet pleasure you treat yourself to on the corner — exactly the kind of daily comfort for neighborhood kids.
I gotta tell you something: the egg cream, there's no egg or cream in it, go figure! It's a New York name, that's all. When you were little, you'd go into the candy store, the guy would make it for you at the counter: the chocolate syrup at the bottom, the milk, and then he'd hit it with the seltzer water in one sharp pour to raise a tight white foam. You drink it fast, while it's still fizzing, before the foam falls. It's the neighborhood sugar, the two-bit luxury.
Ingredients (period version)
- Chocolate syrup (like Fox's U-Bet) — a glass bottom (cocoa sweetness)
- Whole milk, very cold — a little (creamy body)
- Seltzer water (pressurized) — to fill (fizz and foam)
Ingredients
- Chocolate syrup — 3 tbsp (cocoa sweetness)
- Very cold whole milk — 60 ml (creamy body)
- Very fizzy cold sparkling water — 180 ml (fizz and foam)
Method
- Pour the chocolate syrup into the bottom of a tall cold glass.
- Add the cold milk on top without mixing.
- Pour the sparkling water in one brisk stream, aiming at the center, to raise a thick white foam.
- Quickly stir the bottom of the glass with a spoon without breaking the foam on top.
- Drink immediately, while still fizzy and icy.
How it was made : The egg cream appeared in New York's working-class neighborhoods in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, served at the counters of soda fountains and Jewish candy stores. The origin of its name remains a tasty mystery: perhaps a Yiddish corruption, perhaps a reference to its foam 'like beaten egg white'. Fox's U-Bet syrup from Brooklyn remained the legendary standard.
The contemporary twist : Served in a vintage soda glass, striped straw, overflowing foam. A vanilla version with clear syrup for a color variation.
Sources : Kenneth T. Jackson (dir.), The Encyclopedia of New York City
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