Conference taveng::bagels

< Note 333.0 by TSE::MAGENHEIM "Mummy: Egyptian pressed for time" >
                         -< From the Old Neighborhood >-

>     another epicurean
>    delight mentioned was eggcreams, and who made the best.
>    
>    The brand UBET Chocolate Syrup was used in this particular recipe.  
>    
>    Now, I don't know if its kosher or not (doesn't matter to me), but

    Ubet syrup  is  kosher  and  comes  in  about  10 flavors (I don't
    recommend  the lemon-lime). I don't know about the greater Maynard
    area,  but  when  I  lived in New Haven, we got it (and seltzer in
    old-fashioned  seltzer  bottles, the other important ingredient in
    eggcreams)  from  Castle  Seltzer.  They  deliver  in a large area
    around New Haven, but I don't think that they'd come this far.  

    If you know of a supplier around here (for either seltzer or UBet)
    please let me know.

--David

    I believe I have seen UBET chocolate syrup at The Butcherie in
    Brookline.
    Jack

    
    RE:0
    
    
    So, nu, Anita - where in da Bronx are you from??  I'm from Pelham
    Parkway via the Grand Concourse & 169th Street (remember Temple
    Adath Israel??)
    
    Fredda T.
    

    Spent this past weekend in New York and went to the
    Bronx Zoo.  No one speaks english there.

    Fox's Ubet can be acquired at the butcherie.  But you don't have
    to go there, I bought a jar at a Stop & Shop.  I don't get into
    it much as I am trying to regulate my late-night eating habits (:-).
    
    David

    Re: .4
    
    [No one speaks english at the Bronx Zoo]
    
    Right.  Last time I went there, all they spoke were grunts and shrieks
    and squeaks.   :-)
    

    Re: .3
    
    I'm from further uptown, near Evander Childs H.S.  I lived on a
    street called Bartholdi Street, equidistant from Burke Avenue and
    Gun Hill Road, three blocks from White Plains Road.  I'd hate to
    see what that area's like, since it was in the midst of turning
    tacky seven years ago...  As Frost says, "You can never go home 
    again."
    
    Did you move to Pelham Parkway *after* growing up on the Concourse?
    
     
    Anita
    
   

    
    RE: 7
    
    I was going into high school when I moved over to Pelham Parkway.
    Then I left for college and came back afterwards.  I'm one of those
    "lucky" New Yorkers who inherited a cheap apartment complete with
    indoor parking from their parents!!  I didn't have to leave - they
    left me!!  Real estate being what it is these days, my building
    is going co-op!!  You know that your neighborhood is "coming back"
    when the real estate moguls start the co-oping process!!  Forget
    computers, everyone should go into real estate that's where the
    big bucks are!!
    
    I know what you mean by "never go home again", when I did jury duty
    2 years ago and had to pass through the "old neighborhood" to get
    down to the courthouse, it was a very depressing site.
    
    I think I'll go home, stop in the local lunchenette and get a U-Bet
    Egg Cream!!
    
    Fredda T.
    

    Hi,
    
    Mind if I interrupt here? Just like to know what is Kosher/ Jewish/
    Newyork or interesting about U-Bet Egg Cream? 
    
    Is it like a Cadburys cream egg (if you know what they are)?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Malcolm
    
    

    Re: 333.9
    
    Egg Creams are delicious drinks made with milk selzer and syrup
    (in that order, if you want the white foam on top of the drink!)
    and only well known in New York City, since that is where it originated
    and is popular.  
    
    As far as being kosher or Jewish, there is nothing unkosher about
    it, and since New York has a moderately sized Jewish population,
    I would guess that most Jews who are from New York (or are still
    there, unlike me!) know how delicious they are.
    
    Up here in New England, the only lunch counters that I know of that
    know how to make an egg cream are Tommy's Lunch, in Cambridge (Harvard
    Square almost) and Eisenberg's Delicatessen in Nashua, which is
    no longer in business.
    
    --Robert

    Re: 333.10 
    
    > Egg Creams are delicious drinks made with milk selzer and syrup
    > (in that order, if you want the white foam on top of the drink!)
    
My recipe for an egg cream is different:

Pour Fox's U-Bet chocolate syrup into the bottom (about 1" high in a 12-oz 
glass), then pour in some milk (more milk than syrup).  Now add seltzer,
stirring vigorously while adding.  Foaming action will overrun the top of the
glass if you're not careful.  Skill and care will make a rich, thick head
reaching just to the top.

    Aren't there any EGGS in an "egg" cream??

    Does a bear appreciate a clean restroom?

    I'm still lost on these foreign words!!
    
    Can you say what's 'milk selzer' ?
    I can probably guess syrup is a runny sugar solution and 'Fox's 
    U-B i' is a branded chocolate version? 

    I really think I need a taste - but not if on a diat

    There are different stories about the name "egg cream".
    
    One has it that a store was making a drink with eggs & soda, and
    another store made one cheaper without the egg.  The cheaper one
    became the International Standard Egg Cream.
    
    They taste good, but you need a real seltzer bottle.  Pouring it
    from a soda bottle just won't do.  And how many decent high-pressure
    soda fountains are left?  I think I last had one in college, and
    they closed down that fountain; the new building they replaced it
    with didn't have one.  (It had the modern low-pressure soda machines.
    And no egg cream.)

    From Arthur Naiman's "Every Goy's Guide to Common Jewish Expressions":
    
    "EGG CREAM
    
    A NYC soda fountain drink made with milk, flavored syrup (usually
    chocolate) and seltzer (carbonated water).
    
    No eggs, no cream - though one theory has it that originally cream
    was used instead of milk and the name "egg cream" began as "ekht
    cream" - pure cream.  This would explain how the word "egg" got
    in there, since everyone agrees that egg creams never had any eggs
    in them."
    
    BTW, I highly recommend this book -it's a complete dictionary of
    Jewish expressions you;'re likely to come across in a conversation,
    joke, book or movie.  It also has origins of words/phrases, etc.,
    as well as jokes using the words or phrases.
    
    One example:
    
    High up in the castle, the dotted swiss curtains flutter in the
    wind, and the light of the full moon falls through the open window
    onto the flagstone floor of the princess' bedroom.
    
    A sudden rustle at the window - a vampire has perched on the window
    sill.  He slips down to the floor and creeps toward the princess
    in her bed.  As his shadow falls across her face, she stirs in her
    sleep and opens her eyes.
    
    Terror distorts her delicate features.  She wrenches herself upright;
    one hand clutches her nightgown tight around her neck, the other
    snatches a silver crucifix from her bedside table.  This she holds,
    trembling, between herself and the vampire's drooling fangs.
    
    He looks at the crucifix, smiles, and says:  "Sorry, lady, 'svet
    gornisht helfen."

It's what we in the midwest used to call a chocolate phosphate.

And, yes, you do need a high pressure soda fountain.

Martin.

    Re: .16
    
    So that's were Polansky got that scene for the "Fearless Vampire
    Killers".    

    
    Re: .7
    
     Anita,
                                                                    
    Are you an Evander graduate?  I graduated in 19 mumble mumble. 
    Lived on Wallace near Allerton.  My folks had a yarn store on 
    Allerton, diagonally across from the Allerton Theatre (which 
    eventually turned into a porno flick movie house, now it's gone)
    
    I was back there last year.  Except for some minor changes - kosher
    bakeries to Chinese Restaurants, clothing stores to OTB places,
    it hasn't changed all that much.
    
    Charlotte

    I was in a Ben & Jerry's ice cream store recently (in Marblehead,
    Ma.) and they listed egg creams as one of their beverages. I think
    it was about 90 cents.

    I just happened to look at this note even though I'm not from New
    York City (though I've spent a lot of time there and went to school
    upstate). I grew up in Miami and Miami Beach. You can get some good
    egg creams down there, too! Of course, you'll probably tell me they
    were imported from New York (and they probably were!)!
    
    Thanks for the memories...and the recipes...
    
    Elisabeth

    		- I was -
    
    I was born and raised in North Miami Beach (near West Dixie Highway
    and Miami Garden Drive).  I even went to school in Miami (FIU),
    but as soon as I recieved my degree I left and will never return.
    
    I was planning on going back down for a visit (first time in over
    5 years) to visit with some friends who did not leave Florida, they
    just moved further north to West Palm Beach.  Anything to get out
    of Miami!
    
    /Howard

    I grew up in North Miami Beach (Which is not part of Miami Beach).
    I lived on 175th St. and 11 Ave.  I went to Norland High graduated
    in 1965.  My wife also comes from the area around Norland.  I wouldn't
    want to live there now.
    
    WS

    Most of my immediate family still lives in North Miami, Surfside,
    and the Kendall area of Miami. There are some good sides to south
    Florida!! Lot's of young people live there (many more than when
    I was growing up). There's lot's more culture (concerts, museum,
    theatre, very good restaurants, etc.) than when I was growing up!
    No snow for those who are not interested in snow. Yes, some of the
    changes aren't great, and you do have to be careful about your safety
    in some areas more than others. As the saying goes, I also love
    New York, but I'm very careful when I'm in New York too.
    
    Nothing personal - I just like to balance negative comments about
    South Florida with some positive comments.
    
    Elisabeth
    
    PS - And you can grow mangoes, oranges, grapefruits, bananas, and
    avocadoes in your backyard!!

    The changes are more drastic.  My mother and mother-in-law have
    been mugged several times.  My mother in her own garage (private
    home).  They both live in Hollywood.  My cousin lives in Kendall
    area and their level of parania is extremely high.  But then again
    maybe it isn't parania but normal vigalence.
    
    WS
    

    I agree that South Florida changed drastically and in some very
    negative ways over a very short period of time. I feel very sad
    about these changes. I just wanted to balance the negatives with
    some positive aspects of living in South Florida.
    
    Elisabeth

I went to Junior High in Miami for a few months when I was 12 -- my
grandmother was ill and my mother went to stay with her for a while.
The contrast with Chicago was extraordinary.  I'd have to look at
a map, by I think we lived south of Lincoln (or is it Collins) near
a park (Flamingo?).

It was a far more social school than my old one, but the homework
was much easier.

Martin.

    Yes, you're right - south of Lincoln Road by Flamingo Park. I went
    to "summer day camp" at Flamingo Park the summer before junior high.
    That area is part of Miami Beach, as opposed to Miami (two different
    cities). That area has definitely changed a great deal!! 
    
    Elisabeth

    To those of you who have written about North Miami - you are
    reaffirming a terrible feeling that my family has.  You see, my
    parents have a condo in Point East in North Miami.  It's a beautiful
    2 bedroom and has to be sold.  My father is ill and is now in a
    nursing home up here - my mother is with my brother waiting for
    housing - and she not only has to sell her new car (1987 Mazda with
    less than 3,000 miles in case anyone is interested) but she also
    has to sell the condo.  
    
    Living up here this winter is going to be very difficult.  But the
    most difficult is that she must sell the condo - and the prices
    down there have dropped drastically.  Her only hope is selling to
    someone already down there who wants to buy for a family member.
     
    If anyone knows of anyone who is interested in Point East - and
    the car - please contact me at 223-5054.  Oh - the car is a steal
    at $10,000 and she'd like to sell the condo at $60K.  It's a beauty
    but it is North Miami.  Any help would be appreciated.
    
    

   > It's a beauty but it is North Miami. Any help would be appreciated.
    
    First, I'm sorry about the difficulties your family is going through...
    
    Second, it might help if you would express a more positive attitude
    about North Miami. I have tried to balance some of the less than
    positive comments about Miami in this topic with some positive aspects
    of living in Miami. Most or all cities have their serious problems.
    Miami got a large dose of serious big-city problems after being
    a fairly small-town city. The government certainly hasn't helped
    as much as it could have at certain times of crisis down there -
    a lot of the people who live there are doing the best they can!
    Anyway, my parents live in North Miami - I certainly don't mind
    visiting them as often as I can. I hope you understand my feelings
    that Miami is used as a scapegoat sometimes (as real as many of
    the problems are - and shows like Miami Vice don't help - there
    are positive aspects to Miami).
    
    I really do hope things work out for your family. If I hear of anyone
    looking for a condo I'll let you know. And I'll mention it to my
    family.
    
    Sincerely,
    
    Elisabeth

    Hi.
    
    Just thought I'd jump my subject back a few note replies, to the topics
    of NYC and eggcreams.  I'm originally from Flatbush (part of Brooklyn,
    which is rumored to be part of New York City, depending on who you talk
    to).  My memory agrees with what my distant cousins from the north say
    about eggcreams (even though I was taught when growing up that the
    Bron-Ex was an uncivilized land whose IRT subways were to be avoided at
    all costs).  My mental trivia file popped up with some related
    beverages, however: 
    
    The 2� plain: Seltzer, in a glass, sold at the soda fountain.
    The 3� with: A 2� plain with Fox's U-BET added.
    Eggcreams are (obviously, from this) 3� with's plus milk.
    
    We used to get a two or three center (which cost 3 cents and 5 cents
    respectively at Jahn's on Flatbush ave. when I was a kid) when we
    didn't have money for the real thing... 
    
    No, I've never heard of an egg cream with an egg in it, EVER.
    
    While I'm here: on seltzer - I can't find it anywhere up here. 
    My brother still gets his schpritz delivered in appropriate bottles,
    but he lives in Brooklyn.  That which is sold in soda containers
    is just not the same, especially after you drink one glass and put
    the continer back in the fridge for a while.  The so-called "Original
    New York Seltzer" sold in Purity near me (in 5 delicious flavors?!!!)
    is certainly original, but it sure ain't seltzer.  And yes, eggcreams
    do taste 'different' to me without seltzer from an old fashioned
    fountain.  
    
    Speaking of which - have any of you eggcream connoisseurs
    ever discussed the best way for a soda jerk to mix multiple glasses.
    The conventional Flatbush wisdom was that it was OK to divert the
    seltzer stream with a spoon into adjacent glasses, but the back
    of the spoon should be used.  (I get the feeling I've totally lost
    the non-NY audience at this point - Oh well, sorry.).  I don't think
    I could ever taste the difference, but...
    
    /s/Harris.