Preheat your oven 150C/300F/gas mark 2
Separate the eggs and put the yolks to one side. (You can use them for mayonnaise, custard or to yellow up an omelette.)
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form firm peaks, like little snowy mountains.
Add the sugar and a pinch of salt and whisk on the highest setting your mixer or arm has for about 5 minutes, until all the grains of sugar have disappeared.
Line a baking tray with greaseproof papers and spoon on the mixture in blobs (about 2 good tablespoonfuls per blob).
Bake in the oven for 45minutes, until golden brown and crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside.
Stuff to serve your meringues with:
For a slightly more wintry affair, whip up some double cream with 1 teaspoon of icing sugar and a pinch of ground cinnamon and serve with the meringues and tinned or poached pears.
Make on big meringue. It'll take about an hour to cook. Then fill it with fruit and creme fraiche and you've got a pavlova.