It has been claimed that meringue was invented in the Swiss village of Meiringen and improved by an Italian chef named Gasparini between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century.
However, this claim is contested; the Oxford English Dictionary states that the French word is of unknown origin.
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 recognisable as meringue, though called "white biskit bread" in the book of recipes written in 1604 by Elinor Fettiplace (c.1570 – c.1647) of Gloucestershire 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" in the Loire region of France due to their light and fluffy texture.

Meringues were traditionally shaped between two large spoons, as they are generally at home today.
Meringue piped through a pastry bag was introduced by Antonin Carême.
It has been claimed that meringue was invented in the Swiss village of Meiringen and improved by an Italian chef named Gasparini between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. However, this claim is contested; the Oxford English Dictionary states that the French word is of unknown origin. 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 recognisable as meringue, though called "white biskit bread" in the book of recipes written in 1604 by Elinor Fettiplace (c.1570 – c.1647) of Gloucestershire 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" in the Loire region of France due to their light and fluffy texture.
Meringues were traditionally shaped between two large spoons, as they are generally at home today. Meringue piped through a pastry bag was introduced by Antonin Carême.
Meringue