Vinegar In Meringue

[Chasingcars]

What purpose does vinegar serve in a meringue recipe?
I've always used a recipe using 2teaspoons vinegar and it's usually been mainly white with brown hue but today it looked much browner and almost taste burnt!

[Buenchico]

Any (edible!) acid will do; it doesn't have to be vinegar. So you could use lemon juice or cream of tartar instead.

Science here:
http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/23935/does-an-acid-actually-stabilize-meringue-and-if-so-why

[Prudie]

I've always added vinegar or lemon juice too. I always thought it was to keep it a bit chewy and not dried out but don't know. If it's gone too brown that suggests your oven was too hot and they cooked too quickly.

[Litlmissbuttons]

Prudie - I think cornflour is used to make it have a marshmallow texture.

[Bathsheba]

some interesting suggestions below in Related Questions.....