Local Food Heroes - Stephen Wheeler talks to Jan and Lisa of The Cotswold Handmade Meringue Company
There is some dispute as to whether the 17th century recipe for “white bisket bread” by the English Lady Elinor Fettiplace, or whether the confection first baked by a Swiss pastrycook in the small German town of Meiringen, was the first “meringue”, but there’s no argument today that some of the most delicious ones are being made by sisters Jan and Lisa at The Cotswold Handmade Meringue Company in Nailsworth.
Jan and Lisa’s mum Muriel first started piping out meringues in her kitchen at home for the family grocery store in Tetbury 28 years ago. They became so popular that long after the shop closed, the meringues are still being made to Muriel’s original recipes, in 48 separate domestic-sized ovens cleverly lined and stacked in a converted woollen mill, overlooking the tranquil mill-pond. I asked the sisters why not just one big commercial oven? “These ovens give us an even, perfect temperature for the meringues, and we like to stick as closely to possible to our homemade recipes and methods,” said Lisa. “We use fresh egg-white and insist on no chemical additives. Mass produced meringues are made from powdered eggs, with all kinds of stabilizers and gums,” she added.
The egg and sugar mixture is expertly hand-piped from a large bag about the size and shape of a set of bagpipes. Using over 6 tonnes of egg-white and 26 tonnes of sugar a year, over a million whirls, nests and kisses – flavoured with hazelnuts, chocolate, coconut and cinnamon -are hand crafted. Staff with over 12 years experience can make a plate sized meringue in less than a minute.
“Over half of what we make is sold locally,” said Lisa, “Delicatessens, farmshops, pubs and restaurants make up our customer base, but some of the top-end supermarkets are also now showing an interest. We’ve re-designed our range and packaging, and are excited about future business prospects.”
Queen Marie Antoinette had a penchant for meringues, and she used to insist on making them with her own hands, at the Trianon palace in Paris. Having tasted some of the Cotswold Handmade Meringues with whipped cream, lemon curd and fresh raspberries, I’d say they were definitely fit for royalty!
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6th March 2010
Jan Strange with handmade meringues
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