Egg Cream
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This simple drink was a staple of New York Jewish Delis. Cold, frothy and chocolaty, Egg Creams are a refreshing drink, especially in the warm summer months. The old-fashioned Selzer bottles make a satisfying fizz as the Selzer fills up the glass. We didn’t go out to eat much when I grew up and my dad would mix one up for me at home with chocolate syrup and Selzer from a bottle. Homemade--just as good as the delis!
Recipe is below.
Foodie Lit
Egg Cream
1/2 cup cold whole milk of choice
1 cup cold seltzer
2 generous tablespoons Chocolate Syrup
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Pour milk into a 12-oz glass.
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Fill the glass with seltzer almost to the top. Stir vigorously.
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Pour the chocolate syrup down the side of the glass, wait a moment for it to fall to the bottom, and then stir with a long spoon at the bottom of the glass. Foam should appear at the top.
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Drink immediately!
Expandthetable suggestions
Non-dairy: Use a non-dairy milk, such as almond.
Reading Boychik by Laurie Boris took me back to the tastes and smells of my Dad’s deli—the sour pickles, the pastrami sandwiches, the lox and the deli salads. Set for much of the novel is set in Brooklyn in Brooklyn Heights and Williamsburg, both neighborhoods with which I am very familiar.
Like main characters, cousins Eli and Artie Abramowitz, my dad was born in Williamsburg and was only 2 years younger than Eli. His dream was to own a deli, which he did many years later.
In Brooklyn Heights, a wealthy neighborhood then and now, another main character grows up, Evelyn Rosenstein, daughter of Murder Incorporated mobster. What happens when these characters meet is an absorbing story, filled with romance, crime, and dreams, where Hollywood and life intertwine.