{"id":285,"date":"2026-07-28T18:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/?p=285"},"modified":"2026-07-28T18:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:39:17","slug":"lunch-at-pauls-sweet-shop-lillians-tuna-and-a-chocolate-egg-cream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/?p=285","title":{"rendered":"Lunch at Paul\u2019s Sweet Shop: Lillian\u2019s Tuna and a Chocolate Egg Cream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you popped into Paul\u2019s Sweet Shop for lunch in 1953, you might have ordered one of Lillian\u2019s tuna sandwiches and washed it down with a frothy chocolate egg cream. Neither was fancy, but together they made the kind of simple neighborhood lunch people still remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canned tuna had become an especially popular and economical American lunch food by the 1950s. Lunch-counter cooks mixed it with mayonnaise\u2014or sometimes the sweeter \u201csalad dressing\u201d popular at the time\u2014and frequently added finely chopped celery, onion, or pickle relish. Every cook had a slightly different version, which may be one reason customers remembered favorites like Lillian\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My mother-in-law, Lillian Rothman, once told me that her tuna sandwiches were very popular at the lunch counter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was the kind of cook who didn\u2019t always rely on recipes. She would add a pinch of this and a pinch of that, mix everything together, and taste it. If it needed a little more flavor, she added something else.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fortunately, Lillian did write down her tuna recipe, and I still have it in her own handwriting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does it compare with the tuna you make? What do you include that Lillian didn\u2019t\u2014and is there anything in her recipe that you would leave out?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Most customers probably ordered their tuna sandwich on soft white bread, usually untoasted. It might be served with a leaf of lettuce, while a slice of tomato could be added for a few cents more. A handful of crunchy potato chips\u2014and perhaps a pickle\u2014completed this simple lunch-counter meal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In 1953, Lillian\u2019s tuna sandwich probably cost about 40 cents\u2014the equivalent of approximately $5 today. Even with a slice of tomato for an extra nickel, it would be only about $5.50 in today\u2019s money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a tuna sandwich, what could be better than a foamy chocolate egg cream? If you ordered one along with your sandwich, your lunch total would have been approximately 50 to 55 cents. But what exactly is a chocolate egg cream?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The egg cream is most closely associated with the Jewish neighborhoods of New York City and became a familiar soda-fountain drink during the early twentieth century. Exactly who invented it\u2014and how it received its puzzling name\u2014is still debated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite its curious name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream\u2014just cold milk, chocolate syrup, and a lively splash of plain seltzer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The secret is in the mixing, which produces its characteristic frothy top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the most authentic taste, use plain seltzer rather than club soda or flavored sparkling water. Fox\u2019s U-bet was the chocolate syrup traditionally associated with New York egg creams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a recipe to try at home. Be sure to follow the steps in order<\/em> to create that wonderful foamy top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chocolate Egg Cream<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n