Chef at Large

Meringue is a type of dessert plasma made from whipped egg whites and caster sugar. Some meringue recipes call for adding a binding agent such as cream of tartar or the cornstarch found in confectioner’s sugar. Meringues are often flavoured with vanilla and a small amount of almond or coconut extract. They are very light and airy and extremely sweet. The notion that meringue was invented in the Swiss town of Meiringen by an Italian chef named Gasparini is contended. It is more certain that the name meringue for this confection first appeared in print in François Massialot’s cookbook of 1692. The word meringue first appeared in English in 1706 (OED) in an English translation of Massialot’s book. Two considerably earlier seventeenth-century English manuscript books of receipts give instructions for confections that are recognizable as meringue, though called "white biskit bread" in the book of receipts started in 1604 by Lady Elinor Fettiplace (c. 1570 - c. 1647) of Appleton in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), or called "pets" in the manuscript of collected recipes written by Lady Rachel Fane (1612/13 - 1680), of Knole, Kent.

There are several types of meringue, the sweetened, uncooked beaten eggwhites that form the "islands" of Floating Island, the partly cooked toppings of Lemon meringue pie and other meringue-topped desserts, and the classic dry featherweight meringue. Several techniques produce these results: that used by most home cooks is known as a ‘French meringue’, and is described below. An ‘Italian meringue’ is made with boiling sugar syrup, instead of caster sugar. This leads to a much more stable soft meringue which can be used in various pastries without collapsing. A ‘Swiss meringue’ is whisked over a bain marie to warm the eggwhites, and then whisked steadily until it cools. It is then baked. This recipe is often used for Pavlova bases.

Content Courtesy: Wikipedia