Egg Cream
Despite its name, the recipe for egg cream does not include eggs nor cream. It is a frothy combination of chilled milk, chocolate syrup, and seltzer. Although its origin is not entirely clear, the drink is almost exclusively associated with New York.
It is believed that it first appeared sometime in the early 1900s, among the eastern European Jews who settled in New York. The drink was incredibly popular until ice cream parlors and soda fountains—where it was mostly made—started to dwindle.
However, egg cream never disappeared, and it is still served and enjoyed in the city. There are numerous theories about the name and the exact inventor of egg cream. Most of these claim that Louis Auster, a candy shop owner from Brooklyn, was first to whip up egg cream. Read more
He undoubtedly helped popularize the drink, and allegedly, until his shop closed, it used to sell up to 3,000 egg creams a day. Explanations for the name often include theories that is was a wrong translation of French chocolate drink or derivation from Yiddish echt keem, roughly translated as pure sweetness.
It is also likely that the drink derived from a similar beverage that did include eggs—these beverages date before the New York egg cream appeared. Although there are several recipes for a classic egg cream, purists argue that the best version is made with Fox’s U-Bet Chocolate Syrup.
