Eton mess is a traditional English dessert consisting of a mixture of strawberries or other berries,

meringue Meringue ( , ) is a type of dessert or candy, of French cuisine, French origin, traditionally made from Whisk, whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acid, acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or potassium bitartrate, cream of t ...

, and whipped cream. First mentioned in print in 1893, it is commonly believed to originate from

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and is served at the annual cricket match against the pupils of

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

. Eton mess is occasionally served at Harrow School, where it is called Harrow mess.

History

Eton mess was served in the 1930s in the school's "sock shop" ( tuck shop), and was originally made with either strawberries or bananas mixed with ice-cream or cream. Meringue was a later addition. An Eton mess can be made with many other types of summer fruit, but strawberries are regarded as more traditional. The word ''mess'' may refer to the appearance of the dish, or may be used in the sense of "a quantity of food", particularly "a prepared dish of soft food" or "a mixture of ingredients cooked or eaten together". The ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' defines ''mess'' as " serving of food; a course; a meal; a prepared dish ''of'' a specified kind of food." or " portion or serving of liquid or pulpy food such as milk, broth, porridge, boiled vegetables, ''etc.''": .

History

See also

References

Further reading