Brooklyn Egg Cream
A tall glass where milk, chocolate syrup, and seltzer water meet to form a tight white foam over a brown bottom. The taste of the Brooklyn sidewalk, served ice-cold.
A tall glass where milk, chocolate syrup, and seltzer water meet to form a tight white foam over a brown bottom. The taste of the Brooklyn sidewalk, served ice-cold.
Don't look for egg or cream in there—there never were any; it's a Brooklyn joke. Ice-cold milk, a good splash of chocolate syrup, and then seltzer water shot in with a quick hand to raise that white foam to the top of the glass. We drank it standing up, at the candy store counter, for a few cents. A little sparkling improvisation, like a flourish on a cornet between errands.
- •Very cold whole milk — a glass bottom (body)
- •Chocolate syrup — a good splash (flavor)
- •Seltzer water (pressurized) — to fill (foam and fizz)
Brooklyn Egg Cream
A tall glass where milk, chocolate syrup, and seltzer water meet to form a tight white foam over a brown bottom. The taste of the Brooklyn sidewalk, served ice-cold.
Why this dish? Born in Brooklyn in 1900, Copland grew up in the golden age of candy stores and soda fountains in the neighborhood. The egg cream—neither egg nor cream, despite its name—was the iconic sidewalk drink of his Brooklyn childhood.
Don't look for egg or cream in there—there never were any; it's a Brooklyn joke. Ice-cold milk, a good splash of chocolate syrup, and then seltzer water shot in with a quick hand to raise that white foam to the top of the glass. We drank it standing up, at the candy store counter, for a few cents. A little sparkling improvisation, like a flourish on a cornet between errands.
Ingredients (period version)
- Very cold whole milk — a glass bottom (body)
- Chocolate syrup — a good splash (flavor)
- Seltzer water (pressurized) — to fill (foam and fizz)
Ingredients
- Very cold whole milk — 60 ml (creamy body)
- Chocolate syrup (ideally Fox's U-Bet) — 2 tbsp (flavor)
- Very cold, highly carbonated seltzer water — about 200 ml (foam and bubbles)
Method
- Pour cold milk into the bottom of a tall glass.
- Add chocolate syrup without stirring yet.
- Tilt the glass and shoot the seltzer water in a brisk stream against a spoon to raise a thick white foam.
- Quickly stir the bottom with a spoon without breaking the foam on top.
- Serve immediately, very cold, with a straw.
How it was made : Appearing in the late 19th century in New York's Jewish neighborhoods, the egg cream was made with the siphon of soda fountains. The foam, the drink's signature, depended on the pressure of the seltzer: a too-soft wrist and the magic wouldn't happen.
The contemporary twist : Vanilla version: replace chocolate syrup with vanilla syrup and a pinch of malted milk powder for a retro 'soda fountain' taste.
Aaron Copland · Charactorium