A crisp-shelled, marshmallow-centred meringue named after a Russian ballerina — and the subject of a long, good-natured dispute between New Zealand and Australia.
The trans-Tasman argument
The dessert is named for Anna Pavlova, the Russian ballerina who toured Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s at the height of her fame, and both countries claim to have created it in her honour.
The dispute is genuine and has been pursued with some rigour. Researchers combing early cookbooks have found New Zealand references to a pavlova recipe in the late 1920s, and the Oxford English Dictionary has cited New Zealand evidence for the earliest use of the name in this sense. Australian claims centre on a hotel chef in Perth in the wake of the tour.
Complicating matters, meringue desserts with fruit and cream existed in Europe well before either claim, so the argument concerns the specific form and the name rather than the invention of meringue. Neither country shows any sign of conceding, and the rivalry is now part of the dish's charm.
The texture that defines it
A pavlova is distinguished from a plain meringue by its interior. The outside should be dry and crisp enough to crack under a spoon, while the centre stays soft, chewy and marshmallow-like.
That contrast comes from acid and starch: a little vinegar or cream of tartar and a spoonful of cornflour are beaten into the meringue. The starch limits how completely the egg white proteins set, preserving a tender middle.
The rest is technique. Sugar is added gradually to fully dissolve, equipment must be scrupulously free of grease, and the pavlova is baked low and slow and then left to cool in the switched-off oven. Sudden cooling causes the dramatic cracking and collapse familiar to anyone who has rushed one.
Assembly and occasion
It is topped with softly whipped, unsweetened cream and fresh fruit — passionfruit, strawberries and kiwifruit are the classic choices, and the tartness is essential against a very sweet base.
Topping happens at the last possible moment, because cream and fruit juice soften the shell quickly. Cracks are expected and are traditionally covered with more cream rather than treated as a failure.
In both countries it is a summer dessert and, because Christmas falls in summer in the southern hemisphere, a fixture of the Christmas table — served outdoors, in the heat, in a role that a hot pudding could never fill.
