Egg cream
An egg cream is a classic New York City beverage consisting of chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer (soda water), probably dating from the late 19th century, and is especially associated with Brooklyn. It contains neither eggs nor cream. The name is probably derived from the white frothy head on the drink, which resembles whipped egg whites.
Though almost universally made with chocolate syrup, they were sometimes requested with other flavors, especially vanilla or strawberry.
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 characterisic 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.
According to the web site of the makers of Fox's U-bet chocolate syrup, the recipe for "the original Brooklyn Egg-Cream" is:
- Take a tall, chilled, straight-sided, 8oz. glass
- Spoon 1 inch of U-bet Chocolate syrup into glass
- Add 1 inch whole milk
- Tilt the glass and spray seltzer (from a pressurized cylinder only) off a spoon, to make a big chocolate head
- Stir, Drink, Enjoy
Lou Reed, in his song "Egg Cream" from the album
