Eton mess as more traditional. A similar dessert is Lancing mess (which uses bananas), served throughout the year at Lancing College in West Sussex, England. 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". Eton mess Eton mess is a traditional English dessert consisting of a mixture of strawberries, broken meringue, and whipped double cream. First mentioned in print in 1893, it is commonly believed to originate from Eton College and is
Whipped cream "fromage à la Chantilly" 'Chantilly-style molded cream', as early as 1768. Modern mousses, including mousse au chocolat, are a continuation of this tradition. Cream whipped in a whipping siphon with nitrous oxide was invented in the 1930s by both Charles Getz, working with G. Frederick Smith, and Marshall Reinecke. Both filed patents, which were later litigated. The Getz patents were originally deemed invalid, but were upheld on appeal. "Crème Chantilly" is another name for whipped cream. The difference between "whipped cream" and "crème Chantilly" is not systematic. Some authors distinguish between the two, with crème Chantilly being sweetened, and whipped