Top 10 Foods: What to Eat in New York City
The Bodega (Bacon, Egg, and Cheese)
Starting off our list, the number 10 spot goes to a store and a sandwich. The New York bodega is incredibly popular for their bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches.
These small stores are New York's version of a convenient store, frequently located on street corners throughout the city. Their abundance helps make the bacon, egg, and cheese a staple for an on-the-run breakfast during fast-paced mornings in Manhattan.
The "BEC" consists of sliced bacon, scrambled or overhard eggs, and American cheese that's all sandwiched between a sliced hard roll or bagel.
I couldn't find any history or explanation as to why they're so popular in New York except for the fact that they're quick-cooking and delicious. Please let us know in the comments if you know anything about this sandwich's history in or out of New York.
Egg Creams
Number nine goes to the egg cream.
The egg cream is a cold beverage comprised of carbonated water, milk, and chocolate or vanilla-flavored syrup. Those are the only ingredients; there is neither egg nor cream in the recipe. Imagine a version of carbonated chocolate milk. Mix the milk and syrup, then add the soda water. If done correctly, you will be left with a foam head crowing off your egg cream, resembling the foam head on your favorite brewski.
So why is it called an egg cream if there's no eggs or cream in it? The history here is a little blurry, but some say it was a more economical version of a drink that once had eggs and cream. My prediction is that the milk replaced the cream, and the soda water replaced the egg. Have you ever had a cocktail with egg white? When shaken properly, the cocktails always have a creamy protein foam that floats to the top, similar to the foam head on an egg cream. However they came up with the name, it is confirmed that the egg cream was first made within New York's Jewish immigrant community.
Strip Steak
The number eight spot goes to the strip steak. Yum.
This piece of beef comes from the short loin region of the cow-bod. The muscle meat here is located in front of the animal's hind legs and does very little work, making it exceptionally tender. These steaks can and should be cut big because everything's bigger in New York.
The iconic strip of fat that hugs the steak and the fat marbling throughout help this cut boasts its beefy flavor.
Halal Carts
Number seven. The halal cart.
These food care are spread throughout the streets of New York serving halal food; this is a cuisine that's derivative of the Arab Nation along the mediterranean sea. They're typically cooking up lamb gyro, chicken, rice, and serving salads.
To accompany the delicious foods, New Yorkers go crazy for the sauces these carts dish out, a red sauce called "harissa" and a white sauce called "zabadi." The red harissa is pepper-based, while the white zabadi is yogurt-based. When you think harissa, think sweet, spicy, smoky, garlic, and lemon. When you think zabadi, think of cooling cucumber, garlic, and yogurt.
The history here is a little blurry but also relatively recent. It all started in the 1990s when the Halal Guys food cart switched from selling hot dogs to halal food. They became very popular. Today, these mobile kitchens are rivals to hotdog carts, possibly outnumbering the amount of franks found on the street.
Cheesecake
The number six spot goes to the New York Cheesecake.
The main attraction here is the rich, velvety cream cheese filling that the dessert is known for. Cream cheese, eggs, and sour cream make up the bulk of the cheesecake. This mixture sits on top of a graham cracker crust. It tastes like what it is and is proud of it. But one might say, "Hey! There's no cake in this cake!" That's because it's not a cake; it's technically a tart, "an open pastry case containing a filling."
The tart can also be flavored with various spices, vanilla, fall-time pumpkin, or really anything. I'm a purist here. Keep it simple, maybe top it with some fruit and call it a night.
The history is simple. Cheesecake debuted in Greece in 776 BC but didn't start looking like modern-day cheesecake until the 18th century. New York-style Cheesecake became popular in the 1900s when a German immigrant started experimenting with recipes after being blown away by a cheesepie that he was offered at a party. Did curiosity kill the cat? More like curiosity created the cheesecake.
Number five. Americanized Chinese food.
New York was a hot spot for many immigrants, including the Chinese. Upon arrival, these Chinese immigrants stuck together, unknowingly starting what New Yorkers know now as Chinatown. Many immigrants looked for work in mines or on the railroads, but many also opened restaurants for work. Not only were the available ingredients different than what was used in China, but so were the tastebuds of American eaters. Due to the lack of Chinese resources and a need to make money, Chinese cooks made new recipes that kept their families financially afloat while paying homage to their heritage. New York is the birthplace of photo-based food menus and is the city responsible for popularizing food delivery. Yes, we have Chinese restaurants to thank for both of these things.
Some plates one might encounter at a New York Chinese restaurant include:
Sesame Chicken: chicken battered, deep-fried, and dressed in a sweet/spicy soy sauce and sugar-based sauce.
Chop Suey: a bean sprout mixture that's held together by a thick soy sauce gravy.
Crab Rangoon: fried wontons that are filled with imitation crab and cream cheese.
Number four goes to the hot dog.
Originating in north-central Europe, a hot dog is a sausage placed inside of a partially sliced bun. Frankfurters are the sausage of choice here, stuffed with beef, salt, paprika, garlic, and some good ol' preservatives. Although many cities claim to have the best franks, toppings are what really sets each apart. The classic "New York dog" is and should be topped with spicy brown mustard, sauerkraut, and/or onions. If you don't like it, learn to love it.
When walking through the cities bustling streets, it shouldn't be too tricky scouting one of these out. Hot dogs are common street-fare in New York City. You might hear them referred to as "dirty water dogs." This is because these carts cook and keep the sausages warm in hot water.
The name "dog" has been used since the 1800s in central European regions that used dog meat to stuff their sausages. Obviously, eating dog meat is considered unjust in America, but let's back up a second. Do you think anyone would willingly eat fido? If I had to guess, I think this might have been out of desperation.
From what I could find, the term "hot dog" was first used in the 1890s in many New York publications and sporting events.
The Jewish Deli (Pastrami)
The number three spot goes to the deli-meat inhabitant of the Jewish Delicatessen, pastrami.
Jewish delis are famous for their Americanized version of Ashkenazi Jewish food. This cuisine is most known for its pastrami sandwiches and matzo ball soup. "Who are the Ashkenazi's?" you ask? They are a Jewish community that originated around France and migrated throughout regions of eastern Europe—moving on.
Pastrami was first made before modern-day refrigeration, and its preparation reflects this. To help with preservation, pastrami is both brined and smoked. Beef brisket is brined, seasoned with a lot of black pepper and coriander, smoked, and then steamed.
The aforementioned Ashkenazi Jews brought their pastrami recipe over through emigration when a portion of their community moved to America from Romania in 1875. Although this community was eating pastrami before they moved to America, the dish had a significant change. When in Romania, they made pastrami using goose breast, but this wasn't as easy to obtain in New York. They needed a substitution. Voila! Beef-brisket pastrami.
Bagels
Number two goes to the New York-style bagel!
This is where the bagel made its start in the United States, and it set the bar high. The bagels here are known for their larger-than-most size, weighing in at around 6 oz per bagel.
Thanks to New York's tap water, the bagels here are, and always will be, different. They are chewy on the inside and crispier on the outside, really the perfect combination for a glutinous bagel. Again, it's the New York water here that makes the difference. I don't want to underplay that.
Traditional toppings include poppy seeds, dried onion, sesame seeds, "everything bagel seasoning," but you can also find different kinds of flavors like blueberry, cinnamon raisin, or jalapeno cheddar bagels.
They are generally cut lengthwise in the middle to make room for either cream cheese, butter, or the fillings for your favorite breakfast sandwich.
The history here is pretty clear. Jewish refugees from Poland and Eastern Europe moved to New York in the 1800s. From there, they brought their traditional foods with them: challah bread, knishes, and, yes, bagels! As popular as they are now in the United States, before their rebirth in New York, if you were outside of the Jewish community, you probably didn't know what a bagel was. They really only started taking off with non-Jewish communities in the 1960s.
Pizza
The number one spot goes to the Italian baked wheel of wonder, the pizza.
This leavened-crusted pie is topped with tomato sauce and cheese at its most familiar point. However, toppings are endless, and the orderer can go hog wild. Common toppings include pepperoni, sausage, onions, peppers, mushrooms, anchovies, garlic, but the list goes on and on. Afterthought toppings can also include dried chili pepper flakes, garlic powder, dried oregano, or grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
In America, pizza is generally a hand food. The circular pie is cut into eight slices; these slices are picked up by the eater, folded in a way that resembles a paper airplane, and consumed.
The crust is chewy, the sauce is tangy, and the cheese is stringy. Some say there's no such thing as a bad pizza, and most will agree.
New York is incredibly famous for their style of "pie." The crust here is crisp on the outside but soft and chewier on the inside. It's commonly served by the slice in pizzerias along the city's streets.
New York-syle pizza is derivative of the Italian Neapolitan-style pie, and the history here goes back to the early 1900s. An Italian immigrant, Antonio Totonno Pero was making pizzas at a local grocery store where they were selling them for five cents a pie. Although this seems extremely inexpensive by today's standards, many couldn't afford an entire pie, and the grocer began selling them by the slice at a fraction of the cost. Voila, the pizza slice.