Eton mess

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Eton mess.
An Eton mess.

Eton mess is a dessert of English origin consisting of a mixture of strawberries, pieces of meringue and cream, which is traditionally served[1] at Eton College's annual prize-giving celebration picnic on the "Fourth of June" (actually celebrated on the last Wednesday in May).[2] One anecdotal story is that the dessert was invented when a Labrador accidentally sat on a picnic basket in the back of a car on the way to a picnic.[3] According to Recipes from the Dairy (1995)[4] by Robin Weir, who spoke to Eton College's librarian,[5] Eton mess was served in the 1930s in the school's "sock shop" (tuck shop), and was originally made with either strawberries or bananas mixed with ice-cream or cream.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,[6] and may have been an innovation by Michael Smith, the author of Fine English Cookery (1973).[7] An Eton mess can be made with many other types of summer fruit,[8] but strawberries are regarded as more traditional.

A similar dessert is the Lancing mess, served throughout the year at Lancing College in West Sussex, England.[9]

The word mess may refer to the appearance of the dish,[6] 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".[10]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Glossary C–G. JoyofBaking.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
  2. ^ Dates of Halves. Eton College. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. Eton Glossary. Eton College. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  3. ^ Menus. Bell House Restaurant. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
  4. ^ Weir, Robin; Caroline Liddell & Peter C.D. Brears (1995). Recipes from the Dairy. London: National Trust. ISBN 0707802431. 
  5. ^ Blumenthal, Heston. "The appliance of science : Another fine mess", The Guardian, 2005-02-05. 
  6. ^ a b Blumenthal, Heston. "No messing", The Guardian, 2003-06-28. 
  7. ^ Smith, Michael (1973). Fine English Cookery. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571103499.  See Dupleix, Jill. "Eton mess : Strawberries and cream make a superb summer pudding for lazy, hazy days", The Times, 2004-06-03. 
  8. ^ A recipe by Heston Blumenthal, for instance, uses bananas: see Blumenthal, Heston. "Eton mess : Look, no berries – this Eton mess is a crispy, creamy, zingy heap of a treat", The Sunday Times, 2006-02-12. 
  9. ^ See, for instance, Menu 3. Lancing College. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
  10. ^ [Definition of "mess"]. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-11-25. The Oxford English Dictionary defines mess as "[a] serving of food; a course; a meal; a prepared dish of a specified kind of food." or "[a] portion or serving of liquid or pulpy food such as milk, broth, porridge, boiled vegetables, etc.": Simpson, John, ed. (March 2002), “mess, n.”, OED Online, Oxford: Oxford University Press .

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Wikibooks
Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on