{{short description|Traditional English dessert}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox food | name = Eton mess | image = File:Eton Mess 2025-2.jpg | caption = A plate of Eton mess | alternate_name = Harrow Mess | place_of_origin = England | region = Berkshire | creator = Eton College | course = Dessert | served = | main_ingredient = Berries, meringue, cream | variations = | calories = | other = }} '''Eton mess''' is a traditional English dessert consisting of a mixture of strawberries or other berries, meringue, and whipped cream.<ref name="GoldsteinMintz2015">{{cite book|author1=Darra Goldstein|author2=Sidney Mintz|author3=Michael Krondl|author4=Laura Mason|title=The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbi6BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA243|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-931339-6|pages=243–}}</ref> First mentioned in print in 1893, it is commonly believed to originate from Eton College and is served at the annual cricket match against the pupils of Harrow School. Eton mess is occasionally served at Harrow School, where it is called Harrow mess.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Marlborough House and Its Occupants: Present and Past|author=Arthur Henry Beavan|year=1896|page=162}}</ref>
== History == Eton mess was served in the 1930s in the school's "sock shop" (tuck shop), and was originally made with either strawberries or bananas mixed with ice-cream or cream.<ref>{{cite book|last=Weir|first=Robin|author2=Caroline Liddell |author3=Peter Brears |title=Recipes from the Dairy|location=London|publisher=National Trust|year=1995|isbn=0-7078-0243-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Heston|author-link=Heston Blumenthal|title=The appliance of science : Another fine mess|url=https://www.theguardian.com/weekend/story/0,,1404884,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2005-02-05}}</ref> Meringue was a later addition.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Heston|author-link=Heston Blumenthal|title=No messing|url=https://www.theguardian.com/weekend/story/0,,985398,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2003-06-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Michael|title=Fine English Cookery|location=London|publisher=Faber and Faber|year=1973|isbn=0-571-10349-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fineenglishcooke0000smit}} (Revised edition London: Serif, 1998, Foreword by Geraldene Holt; {{ISBN|978-1897959367}}.) 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|newspaper=The Times|date=2004-06-03|location=London}}{{Dead link|date=March 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> An Eton mess can be made with many other types of summer fruit,<ref>A recipe by Heston Blumenthal, for instance, uses bananas: see {{cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Heston|author-link=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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531072451/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/heston_blumenthal/article725886.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 May 2010|newspaper=The Sunday Times|date=2006-02-12 | location=London}}</ref> but strawberries are regarded as more traditional.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}
The word ''mess'' may refer to the appearance of the dish,<ref name="Guardian"/> 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".<ref>{{cite web|title=mess|url=http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/mess|publisher=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary|access-date=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.''": {{Cite book|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|access-date=2007-07-10}}.</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Food}} *Cranachan *Fruit fool *Pavlova *Trifle
==References== {{Reflist}} {{cookbook}}
==Further reading== *{{cite news|last=Leigh|first=Rowley|title=Messy pleasures|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/3306199/Messy-pleasures.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2003-07-01}}
{{Commons category|Eton mess}} {{Puddings}} {{English cuisine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eton Mess}} Category:British desserts Category:Eton College Category:Fruit desserts Category:Strawberry dishes Category:Banana dishes Category:Victorian cuisine Category:Meringue desserts Category:English desserts