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An egg cream is a cold beverage consisting of milk, carbonated water, and flavored syrup (typically chocolate syrup or vanilla syrup), as a substitute for an ice cream float. Ideally, the glass is left with liquid and foamy Beer head. Despite the name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream.
The egg cream is primarily a Soda fountain drink. It has been bottled under various brands , but is still not well-represented on shelves in the US. This may be partially due to the drink's tendency to go flat quickly when prepared fresh.
The egg cream originated among Yiddish language-speaking Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City, so one explanation claims that egg is a corruption of the Yiddish echt ('genuine' or 'real'), making an egg cream a "good cream".
Another explanation comes from reports that it grew out of a request for chocolat et crème from someone, possibly the actor Boris Thomashefsky (who had experienced a similar drink in Paris.) His heavy accent altered the name into something like "egg cream," which then developed into the current term.
However, food historian Andrew Smith writes: "During the 1880s, a popular specialty was made with chocolate syrup, cream, and raw eggs mixed into soda water. In poorer neighborhoods, a less expensive version of this treat was created, called the Egg Cream (made without the eggs or cream)." In fact, an 1850 source already presents a similar egg cream, but without the soda water and flavored differently: "How to Make Egg Cream. Take the yolk of an egg, with a dessert spoonful of cream or new milk, and, if convenient, add two drops of oil of cinnamon." In 1885, George Peltz showed the froth being created by whipping the egg: "Egg Cream.—Beat a raw egg to a stiff froth; add a tablespoonful of white sugar and a half wineglass of good blackberry wine; add half a glass of cream; beat together thoroughly, and use at once."
The term "egg cream" then was in fact used for mixtures that included both before it came to be used - by a process that is not well-documented - for a drink that included neither.
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