Ottawa Magazine
Dec.2005/Jan. 2006
BITE: Black-and-White Cookies
The key to eating a black-and-white cookie, according to Jerry in one episode of Seinfeld , is to get some black and some white in each bite. A specialty of New York delis, the black-and-white cookie is more of a culinary curiosity than a simple confection. Any New Yorker will tell you that only he/she know the best place to buy one. It begins with the basic cookie ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, eggs, etc. but its one-of-a-kind personality is revealed with its perfectly divided two-tone shiny coat; half chocolate (black) and half white icing. I once heard these cookies described as flat, thinly frosted cakes, like a cupcake that someone has sat on. And while the black-and-white cookies at the Rideau Bakery (384 Rideau Street, 789-1019) are more crumbly than moist and without the hint of lemon I remember from a recent trip to Manhattan, they are Ottawa's most authentic rendition of the big-city classic. -- Shawna Wagman
