Step Away from the Pavlova Little Aussie Battler!

It’s ours! It is 100% a Kiwi creation.

What the ‘fudge brownie’ am I talking about? Only the most important news to have appeared on the wires today. The Pavlova is officially, according to the Oxford Dictionary, a Kiwi creation.

We always knew that of course. But the Aussies, ever the cheeky little battlers, have been at war with us for years over their claim to the Pavlova. They said it was named for Anna Pavlova, the ballerina, whose visit in 1920s wowed the Australians (and the Kiwis I might add!). They lie!

It’s ours, it’s ours it’s ours.

Proof in the pudding, is that recipes for Pavlova cake have now  been traced back to 1920s New Zealand, whereas the first Aussie ones don’t appear until 1940s. Yesterday the Oxford dictionary folk released their online edition and stated clearly that the first pavlova was indeed a New Zealand cake.

Admittedly, it doesn’t look like the Pav we all know and love. Oxford claims, it was instead a multi-coloured jelly dish and it appeared in a cooking book called Davis Dainty Dishes, written by the Davis Gelatin company. Professor of Anthropology from the University of Otago (who taught me in another life, many years ago!) Dr Helen Leach claims Oxford only got it half right.

She says the really first recipe for Pavlova can be traced back to a ‘Pavlova cake’ published in the NZ Dairy Exporter, in 1929.  A claim I think makes sense when you consider the amount of cream the typical Pavlova presents with. Of course the Aussie’s came out of their corner fighting, led by their gastronomic doyenne, Margaret Fulton who claimed:

”They can make all the claims they like, and the Oxford dictionary can go on like great academic know-it-alls, but I think most Australians would agree with me that the true pavlova belongs to Australia,” the 86-year-old told the Sydney Morning Herald last night’, as reported in the Stuff article here.

Bollocks. What a load of crock! Australians you can battle all you like but us more refined Antipodeans know that only we have the elegance and cultural innovation to have been able to create such a fragile, melt-in-the-mouth yummyness that is Pavlova.

Step away from the Pavlova, little Aussies battlers!! It’s ours!

Tell you what, cos we’re nice, we’ll give you the creation of the Lamington, complete with its sickening jammy stickiness.

Any Aussie blogger want to argue your corner? @Woogsworld? @CateP36? Diminishing Lucy? @PinkFibro? Come on Aussies come on!

Tagged as: A challenge to Aussie bloggers, Australia versus New Zealand, National pride, Pavlova