1797 tr. in R. Townson Trav. Hungary iv. 122 The peasants shall be at perfect liberty to buy and sell tobacco, honey, wax, schmalz (melted butter), flax, hemp, and other natural productions.

1850 H. J. Whitling Pictures of Nuremberg II. 32 So, then come and take this trout; get him ready for breakfast as quickly as possible, sparing neither eggs nor schmalz!

1927 Amer. Mercury Feb. 206/1 Luscious potato latkes—pancakes made of grated, raw potatoes, mixed with flour and shortening and fried in schmaltz.

1974 New Yorker 3 June 80/2 If a diner thinks the mashed potatoes might be improved by a bit of schmalz—liquid chicken fat—he pours some out of a dispenser.

2011 Time Out N.Y. 21 Apr. 18/3 A decadent dressing of lemony schmaltz.

1934 Melody News 1 Oct. 6/1 Schmaltz has a tendency to make me slightly ill, and the average Broadway work of art is something from which I flee.

1942 M. Hargrove See here, Private Hargrove xxxviii. 106 Write a letter for your old daddy. Give them the old Hargrovian schmaltz.

1950 Here & Now (N.Z.) Nov. 27/2 Howard Wyatt has an impressive technique for his age, and his greatest lack is what has come to be known as schmalz. A certain amount..of this quality is necessary, and..I'd recommend a serious study of the ‘white’ jazz exponents.

1957 J. D. Salinger Zooey in New Yorker 4 May 37/1 Will you be content with that standard box-office schmalz?

1977 Spare Rib June 46/4 She..is saying with appalling schmaltz that ‘Josh's warm, funny smile was where I lived now.’

1978 Observer 19 Nov. 31/1 ‘What we call honest sentiment,’ he says in equally honest puzzlement, ‘you call schmaltz.’

2002 Time Out N.Y. 18 Apr. 161/1 It's more comfort food than theater of any sort, and should provide you with a year's supply of schmaltz.

1959 N. Clad Love & Money viii. 91 It [sc. the Independence Day Parade] was the kind of Schmaltzfest, the kind of loud and insincere yelling of patriotism Max could not bring himself to.

1971 Illustr. London News 30 Jan. 27/1 Considering what a schmaltz-fest such a subject could lead to, one must say at once that much of the film is admirably unsentimental.

1997 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 15 Feb. (Good Weekend section) 9 The nauseating schmaltz fest of Valentine's Day is over for another year.

2015 Time Out London 17 Mar. 83/1 Mike Rosenberg's acoustic schmaltzfest ‘Let Her Go’ topped charts in 19 countries.

1912 Waterloo (Iowa) Evening Courier 10 Oct. 13/4 (advt.) Best grade Schmaltz Herring, 7 for 20¢.

1935 L. Zara Blessed is Man ii. ii. 232 Two or three other kegs of schmalz herring and such for pickling.

1968 M. Richler Cocksure viii. 46 I don't want this apartment stinking of schmaltz herring.

2006 New Yorker 23 Jan. 56/3 He..recommended the Portuguese sardines and the schmaltz herring.

1936 C. L. Cons Jargon of Jazz in Amer. Mercury May p. x/2 Schmalz It, play it long-haired.

1966 D. Skirrow It won't get you Anywhere xxxi. 143 She was like the white light of early morning, before the hot sun schmalzes up the scene.

1969 A. Laski Dominant Fifth ii. 41 He..tried to lighten his touch; no use giving this—visitor—the notion that they schmaltzed it up.

2007 J. D. Waterman Song 206/2 It's amazing how he [sc. Neil Diamond] can schmaltz it up!