Where have all the egg creams gone?

For those of you who have never had one, an egg cream is a delcious drink. It consists of milk, seltzer and some vanilla syrup if your having a vanilla egg cream, if your having a chocolate egg cream, it's seltzer, milk and chocolate syrup. This drink is not to be confused with a malted. A malted is with grated ice, mixed in a blender and then adding chocolate syrup, milk and blending. There used to be many places in New York to get egg creams. There still are a few but it seems to be a vanishing beverage much to my consternation. There used to be many soda fountain type places in the city that served this beverage. Some diners still do but less and less so. According to some historians, the egg cream was a New York product, first sold mainly in Brooklyn and then spreading outwards. You can go to many places outside New York City and ask for one and the people will have no idea what it is. I recently was down south and asked for a bagel at a diner and got a look of consternation from the waitress, truly disturbing. The egg cream is a vanishing item and it is sad to see. It is one of those drinks that reminds me of my youth. Many people, when talking about egg creams, especially chocolate ones, say that it has to be made with U-bet syrup. I think this is the best way. If you can believe it, an egg cream has neither eggs in it or cream. This recipe has several legends as to how it was created, one legend is that it was created by a Jewish candy store owner in the early 1900's named Louis Auster who came to America and opened a candy store on the lower East Side. I am not sure who created the egg cream, but it is a miraculous drink. It was never able to be bottled because the ingredients tend to seperate after a while and the drink is best consumed freshly made. There is an old type soda fountain store on Chambers Street between West Broadway and Church Street where they sell them. However they put vanilla ice cream in them which is not the traditional way to make them. When I recently got one and saw the guy putting in vanilla ice cream I asked "what are you doing? That's not how you make an egg cream!" to which the guy smirked at me and told me that's how they made it there. It sucked! When I was younger, I worked in an ice cream store and I made very good egg creams. In fact there is a method to the madness, you have to make it sweet and add three pumps of vanilla syrup and just the right amount of seltzer, the old seltzer bottles that are pressurized work best for this type of drink, they are rare and hard to find but still sold by a few companies. It is depressing to see this great beverage, which is so much a part of the New York landscape and history, vanishing. Unfortunately so much of the old New York I love seems to be vanishing. The city is changing so drastically and the small things which gave it its identity and local flavor are slowly passing by the wayside. This is depressing to me, someone who grew up here and never left and I hope the trend reverses itself. If you are ever in a diner ask if they make egg creams, maybe they will and you can taste this great drink before it vanishes off the face of the earth forever. It is one of those special New York City only drinks that is wholly a part of the New York City landscape, that's how it should be. More to come soon, keep the faith, the worm shall soon turn for you too.