Meringue: The Pride of La Chef Esther

According to wikipedia:

“It has been claimed that meringue was invented in the Swiss village of Meiringen and improved by an Italian chef named Gasparini in the 18th century. However this claim is contested; the Oxford English Dictionary states that the French word is of unknown origin. It is sure nevertheless 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 in an English translation of Massialot’s book. Two considerably earlier seventeenth-century English manuscript books of recipes give instructions for confections that are recognizable as meringue, though called “white biscuit bread” in the book of recipes started in 1604 by Lady Elinor Fettiplace (c. 1570 – c. 1647) of Appleton in Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire), and called “pets” in the manuscript of collected recipes written by Lady Rachel Fane (1612/13–1680), of Knole, Kent. Slowly baked meringues are still referred to as “pets” (meaning farts in French) in the Loire region of France due to their light and fluffy texture.”

Whatever historians may think: when the German family Rudmann (Esther’s grandmother) came to South Africa in the mid 1700 (via Holland) they took with them the secret family recipe of the Meringue. This recipe is a well kept secret and in generations the basics never changed. With modern kitchen technology at hand Esther has perfected the recipe and since recently Esther’s Pride is on the menu. Making a perfect Meringue is a combination of the right ingredients and the preparation in which temperatures, timing, moisture and so on play a crucial role.

There are numerous recipes for meringue on the internet. Esther selected a good one for she is determined to keep the secret within the family.