Eton mess

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Eton mess is a dessert of English origin consisting of a mixture of strawberries, pieces of meringue and cream, which is traditionally served [cite web|title=Glossary C–G|url=http://www.joyofbaking.com/other/glossaryCG.html|publisher=JoyofBaking.com|accessdate=2007-07-10] at Eton College's annual prize-giving celebration picnic on the "Fourth of June" (actually celebrated on the last Wednesday in May). [cite web|title=Dates of Halves|url=http://www.etoncollege.com/Eton.asp?state=load&di=171|publisher=Eton College|accessdate=2007-12-06 cite web|title=Eton Glossary|url=http://www.etoncollege.com/eton.asp?di=321#fourthofjune|publisher=Eton College|accessdate=2007-12-06] 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. [cite web|title=Menus|url=http://www.bellhouse.net.nz/menus.php|publisher=Bell House Restaurant|accessdate=2007-07-10] According to "Recipes from the Dairy" (1995) [cite book|last=Weir|first=Robin|coauthors=Caroline Liddell & Peter C.D. Brears|title=Recipes from the Dairy|location=London|publisher=National Trust|year=1995|isbn=0707802431] by Robin Weir, who spoke to Eton College's librarian, [cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Heston|authorlink=Heston Blumenthal|title=The appliance of science : Another fine mess|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1404884,00.html|publisher="The Guardian"|date=2005-02-05] Eton mess was served in the 1930s in the school's "sock shop" (tuck shop), and was originally made with either strawberries or bananas mixed with ice-cream or cream.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,cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Heston|authorlink=Heston Blumenthal|title=No messing|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,985398,00.html|publisher="The Guardian"|date=2003-06-28] and may have been an innovation by Michael Smith, the author of "Fine English Cookery" (1973). [cite book|last=Smith|first=Michael|title=Fine English Cookery|location=London|publisher=Faber and Faber|year=1973|isbn=0571103499 See cite news|last=Dupleix|first=Jill|title=Eton mess : Strawberries and cream make a superb summer pudding for lazy, hazy days|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article442202.ece|publisher="The Times"|date=2004-06-03] An Eton mess can be made with many other types of summer fruit, [A recipe by Heston Blumenthal, for instance, uses bananas: see cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Heston|authorlink=Heston Blumenthal|title=Eton mess : Look, no berries – this Eton mess is a crispy, creamy, zingy heap of a treat|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/heston_blumenthal/article725886.ece|publisher="The Sunday Times"|date=2006-02-12] 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. [See, for instance, cite web|title=Menu 3|url=http://www.lancingcollege.co.uk/media/e99e18f7/Menus.pdf|publisher=Lancing College|accessdate=2008-01-22|page=3]

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". [cite web|title= [Definition of "mess"] |url=http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/mess|publisher=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary|accessdate=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.": citation|contribution=mess, "n."|contribution-url=http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00306872|editor-last=Simpson|editor-first=John|title=OED Online|place=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=March 2002|accessdate=2007-07-10.]

Notes

Further reading

*cite news|last=Leigh|first=Rowley|title=Messy pleasures|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2003/07/01/edfood01.xml|publisher="The Daily Telegraph"|date=2003-07-01
*cite news|title=Oliver's pudding – fit for a Queen|url=https://www.orange.co.uk/entertainment/news/19969.htm|publisher=Orange UK|date=2006-06-12

External links

* [http://www.joyofbaking.com/StrawberriesCreamMeringue.html Recipe for Eton mess from JoyofBaking.com]
* [http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/103204 Recipe for Eton mess from Epicurious]
* [http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/571229 Recipe for Eton mess by Jean-Christophe Novelli from UKTV Food's "Food Uncut"]
* [http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/eton-mess,1395,RC.html Recipe for Eton mess by Delia Smith from Delia Online]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/etonmess_67916.shtml Recipe for Eton mess by Antony Worral Thompson from BBC's "Saturday Kitchen"]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/etonmess_72765.shtml Recipe for Eton mess by Brian Turner from BBC's "Ready Steady Cook"]