National Egg Cream Day is March 15th – a mere 111 days away. Since you can't get started too early with these things, let's get going. But first...
Are you a New Yorka?
Take this test if you wanna see whether you’re a real New Yorka. While no single joke could ever capture the essence of the city, this one comes close enough:
Q: How many New Yorkaz does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Hey, #### you, buddy — do it yourself!
Other requirements for claiming the title include (but are not limited to) knowing what’s “Better Than Filet Mignon” (Papaya King hot dogs), that jaywalking is not merely permitted; it's required, or what BMT stands for (Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit, an old division of the subway system).
An old version of the D train, a member of the BMT fleet, ran (and still does) from the northern Bronx to Coney Island. A fascinating ride, should have a couple of hours to spare. Image: Wikipedia.
You’d also have to have tasted a chocolate egg cream on a hot summer day and know that it contains neither egg nor cream.
So what is this strange beverage? And how did it end up with a name that makes absolutely no sense?
A mislabeled old favorite. Or is it?
The ingredients of a chocolate egg cream. Fox's u-bet (no substitutes!), whole milk, cold seltzer water. Mix in a cold glass. Drink quickly. Image: Wikipedia
Why the funky name? A little history
Since New York Jews will argue about just about anything, it should not be surprising that there are a goodly number of stories and claims about the meaning, derivation, and even definition of the egg cream.
A website called The Art of Manliness presents several theories about the origin and history of the egg cream.
- The egg cream was almost surely invented by NYC’s Jewish immigrants. Its most commonly cited inventor is Louis Auster, a Brooklyn candy store owner who is said to have served the first egg creams in the 1890s.
- It was an instant hit.
- This prompted Auster to make his own chocolate syrup in his basement with blacked-out windows so no one could see his formula.
Of course, there is another story.
- Retired professor of sociology Daniel Bell disputes this claim.
- Bell claims that his Uncle Hymie (not kidding) invented the egg cream in the 1920s at his candy store on the Lower East Side.
- Uh oh. Brooklyn vs. Manhattan – a wicked rivalry that persisted for years, especially around World Series time. There was no love lost between Dodgers and Yankee fans. The two teams played for the championship seven times between 1941 and 1956, with the Dodgers winning only once (1955).
- According to Bell, regular chocolate sodas (consisting of just syrup and seltzer) were already popular at the time, and Uncle Hymie liked to make his with a scoop of chocolate ice cream on top. But as the ice cream melted, the drink would become too rich, prompting Uncle H. to add more seltzer.
- Probably possessing an unknown flair for chemistry, he then modified the thing into a similar drink with real cream, chocolate syrup, seltzer, and eggs. (Many soda fountain drinks actually contained raw eggs at the time.)
- Hymie's concoction was also very popular. He was imitated by others, and these competitors would later bring about his demise.
- When the Great Depression hit, rival soda jerks were able to undercut Uncle H. by removing the eggs, substituting milk for cream, and cutting the price.
- Hence, egg and cream.
And another...
Some say it’s a variation of the Yiddish word, “echt keem” which means, “pure sweetness”.
Whatever you choose to believe, don't go looking for one at your local Publix. Egg creams are sold in very few places, like old New York luncheonettes and a few retro diners.
You'll have to make your own. So it's a good thing that...
The chemistry of the egg cream, such as it is
The characteristic structure of an egg cream is driven by temperature-dependent protein behavior and gas–liquid interactions [English: basically, the way cold milk and fizzy water freak out when they meet], and Yiddish: [Gornisht andersh vi kalt milkh un bublndik vaser zikh oyffirn ven zey zikh trefn.] [1]
When milk is cooled to 0–4°C, casein micelles [English: tiny protein clusters that act like microscopic bubble-huggers] and whey proteins form a compact, surface-active conformation that maximizes their ability to adsorb at newly formed air–liquid interfaces [English: they rush to coat every bubble like lifeguards at a beach made of foam].
A casein micelle — a spherical cluster of milk-protein molecules. The gray circles represent casein proteins packed together, the blue dots are calcium-phosphate “glue” holding the structure intact, and the pink tails are flexible protein ends that stick out into the liquid, helping the micelle stay suspended in milk and later stabilize foam in an egg cream. Image: Wikipedia Commons
When carbonated seltzer—supersaturated with CO₂ under pressure—is introduced, the sudden drop to atmospheric pressure causes rapid degassing. CO₂ nucleates and expands into microbubbles, which are immediately coated by these cold milk proteins, creating a metastable foam [English: the famous egg-cream head], which is stable enough to admire but unstable enough that you really should hurry up and drink it.
Chocolate syrup alters the rheology of the continuous phase: sucrose and glucose increase viscosity; cocoa particles act as Pickering stabilizers, anchoring at bubble surfaces and reducing coalescence [English: the chocolate helps keep the bubbles from merging into big useless blobs]. Lower temperature also increases CO₂ solubility, delaying bubble expansion and producing a finer, more uniform foam [English: colder = fizzier = better texture].
As the mixture warms, CO₂ solubility drops, bubbles enlarge, drainage accelerates, and the foam collapses—explaining why a properly made egg cream must be served immediately and why deviations in temperature or ingredient order produce markedly different physical structures.
Which is why you'll never find a can of chocolate egg cream in a supermarket.
Don't even ask about other flavors.
They are chocolate. Period.
I have done nothing wrong
Martha Stewart, 2004, after her criminal conviction
Well, that's not exactly right...
How about this abomination?
Martha Stewart sells a vanilla egg cream. Gag. Maybe not criminal, but surely wrong. On Facebook.
Oy Vey
Uncle Hymie, date unknown.
NOTE:
[1] If you think I really speak Yiddish, think again.
Josh Bloom
Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science
Dr. Josh Bloom, the Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, comes from the world of drug discovery, where he did research for more than 20 years. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry.
