Meringue is a light, airy confection made by whipping egg whites with sugar until they form stiff, glossy peaks. Recorded recipes go back at least to 1604 (an English manuscript by Lady Elinor Fettiplace) and 1692 (a French cookbook by Francois Massialot); the popular story crediting a Swiss pastry cook named Gasparini with inventing meringue in the town of Meiringen in 1720 is a later legend, not the earliest known recipe. The word's deeper etymology is uncertain, and its supposed link to "Baiser" ("kiss") is unverified.
Egg whites give meringue its structure and volume; sugar sweetens and stabilizes it. Depending on technique, meringue ranges from soft and marshmallowy to crisp and dry. French meringue is made by whipping raw whites with sugar; Swiss meringue is whipped over a warm water bath; Italian meringue is made by beating whites with hot sugar syrup, giving it the most stability of the three.
Meringue is used in lemon meringue pie, baked Alaska, and meringue cookies in the United States, and forms the base of French macarons. Pavlova, the meringue-based dessert with a crisp shell and marshmallowy center, is Australian and New Zealand in origin, not Italian, despite being named for the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Meringue pairs well with tart fruits like lemon, lime, and berries, and with chocolate and creamy fillings.
Compare French meringue, Swiss meringue and Italian meringue.