Crisp on the outside.
Soft and marshmallowy in the middle.
Covered with whipped cream and piled high with fruit.
Few desserts look quite as impressive sitting in the middle of an Australian Christmas table as a pavlova.
Or a pav, as we’re far more likely to call it.
For generations, pavlova has appeared at Christmas lunches, birthdays, barbecues and family celebrations across Australia.
There’s just one little problem.
New Zealand claims it too.
And after almost a century, neither side seems particularly interested in giving it up.
A Dessert Named After a Russian Ballerina
The woman behind the name wasn’t Australian.
She wasn’t a New Zealander either.
Anna Pavlova was one of the most famous Russian ballerinas of the early 20th century.
She toured Australia and New Zealand during the 1920s, performing before enthusiastic audiences on both sides of the Tasman.
Her performances made an enormous impression.
Pavlova was celebrated for the lightness and grace of her dancing.
Somewhere around this period, cooks began creating dishes bearing her name.
And eventually one of those dishes became the dessert we know today.
Naming Food After Famous People Was Nothing New
Pavlova wasn’t the first celebrity to have food named after her.
For generations, chefs had named dishes after royalty, politicians, performers and other famous figures.
Anna Pavlova was internationally famous.
So it isn’t surprising that cooks wanted to create something in her honour.
The problem for food historians is that not every early dish called “pavlova” was actually the pavlova we recognise today.
Some early recipes carrying her name were quite different.
That makes answering the great question much harder.
Who actually invented the pav?
New Zealand Has a Strong Claim
This is where Australians may need to prepare themselves.
New Zealand has some rather inconvenient historical evidence.
Food historian Helen Leach spent years studying old cookbooks and recipes.
Her research found a New Zealand recipe from 1929 for a “pavlova cake” that closely resembled the large baked meringue dessert we know today.
Earlier dishes named after Anna Pavlova existed, but they weren’t necessarily the familiar crisp-shell, soft-centred pavlova.
That gives New Zealand a very strong claim to an early version of the modern dessert.
Australians, naturally, have another story.
Enter Herbert Sachse in Western Australia
One of Australia’s best-known pavlova stories centres on Herbert Sachse, a chef at Perth’s Esplanade Hotel.
According to the traditional Australian account, Sachse developed a meringue dessert during the 1930s.
When the finished creation was presented, it was supposedly declared as light as Pavlova.
And another Australian pavlova story was born.
The difficulty is that New Zealand recipes resembling the modern pavlova had already appeared in print.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Sachse simply copied one.
Recipes constantly evolve.
Cooks borrow ideas.
Ingredients change.
Techniques improve.
And similar dishes can develop in more than one place.
But it does make the claim that one Australian chef simply invented pavlova from scratch difficult to prove.
Australia Had an Earlier Pavlova Too – Sort Of
Australia wasn’t completely absent from the early history.
An Australian cookbook published in 1926 included a dish called pavlova.
Excellent.
Case closed?
Not quite.
It wasn’t the dessert we’re arguing about.
That early Australian pavlova was a multi-layered jelly dessert.
So Australia can point to an early use of the name.
New Zealand can point to an early recipe resembling the actual meringue cake.
And the argument continues.
Which, frankly, may be exactly how Australians and New Zealanders like it.
Pavlova Was Part of a Bigger Baking Tradition
The pav didn’t suddenly appear from nowhere.
Meringue desserts had existed long before Anna Pavlova toured this part of the world.
European cooks had been making dishes from whipped egg whites and sugar for generations.
By the early 20th century, cooks in Australia and New Zealand were experimenting with meringues, cakes, creams and fruit.
Domestic ovens were also improving.
More accurate temperature control made delicate baking easier.
That mattered enormously when making something like pavlova.
A pavlova needs relatively gentle heat.
Too much and things can go wrong rather dramatically.
Although, as generations of Australian home cooks have discovered, things can go wrong rather dramatically anyway.
What Makes a Pavlova a Pavlova?
The magic of pavlova is the contrast.
The outside forms a delicate, crisp shell.
Break through it and the centre should be soft, light and marshmallowy.
Then comes whipped cream.
Lots of it.
And finally fruit.
The exact topping depends on the household.
Strawberries.
Kiwi fruit.
Berries.
Mango.
Peaches.
And, of course, passionfruit.
Passionfruit pulp running over whipped cream and meringue is difficult to beat.
The Pavlova Crack Is Not a Disaster
Anybody who has made pavlova knows the moment.
You open the oven.
And there’s a crack.
Possibly several.
Maybe the entire top has sunk slightly.
For a dessert famous for looking spectacular, pavlova can be surprisingly temperamental.
Egg whites need to whip properly.
Sugar needs to dissolve.
The oven temperature matters.
Cooling matters.
Humidity can matter.
And sometimes it seems the pavlova simply makes its own decisions.
Fortunately, Australians developed an excellent repair strategy.
Cover it with cream.
Then add fruit.
Nobody needs to know what happened underneath.
Pavlova Became Perfect for an Australian Christmas
Traditional Christmas food arrived in Australia largely from Britain.
Roast meat.
Hot vegetables.
Christmas pudding.
Custard.
All perfectly reasonable foods.
Except Christmas in Australia happens in summer.
Sometimes a very hot summer.
Over time, Australian Christmas tables began changing.
Seafood appeared.
Cold meats became popular.
Salads multiplied.
And pavlova fitted beautifully into the Australian summer Christmas.
It was sweet and celebratory without being another heavy steamed pudding.
Fresh summer fruit looked spectacular piled over the top.
And it could feed a crowd.
By the second half of the 20th century, the pav had become firmly established as an Australian Christmas favourite.
Every Family Seems to Have Its Own Pavlova Rules
Like most traditional foods, pavlova comes with opinions.
Some families want a tall pav with a thick marshmallow centre.
Others prefer it lower and crispier.
Some insist on passionfruit.
Some pile on berries.
Some add kiwi fruit.
Others wouldn’t dream of it.
There are rolled pavlovas.
Mini pavlovas.
Chocolate pavlovas.
Individual pavlova nests.
And enormous creations designed to feed half the extended family.
Then there is the question of when to add the cream.
Too early and the meringue can soften.
Too late and everybody is standing around asking when dessert is coming.
These are serious Australian problems.
Pavlova Became Celebration Food
The pav’s place in Australia goes well beyond Christmas.
For decades it has been a reliable special-occasion dessert.
Birthdays.
Barbecues.
Sunday lunches.
Engagements.
Anniversaries.
Family gatherings.
If someone arrives carrying a pavlova, dessert is sorted.
And because it looks impressive, pavlova has always had the useful ability to make a home cook appear considerably more sophisticated than the ingredients suggest.
Egg whites.
Sugar.
Cream.
Fruit.
Somehow the result looks like you’ve made an effort.
Assuming it doesn’t collapse.
And even then, remember the cream strategy.
Australia and New Zealand Share More Than Pavlova
The pavlova argument is entertaining partly because Australians and New Zealanders share so much.
Our histories are closely connected.
Our food traditions overlap.
People have moved between the two countries for generations.
Recipes travelled too.
Cookbooks crossed the Tasman.
Newspapers reprinted recipes.
Families shared ideas.
Chefs adapted dishes.
So trying to draw a perfectly neat national border around a dessert created during that period may never give us a completely satisfying answer.
The pavlova belongs to a broader Australasian food story.
Of course, saying that probably won’t stop either country claiming it.
Does New Zealand Win the Pavlova Argument?
If we’re talking about the earliest known published recipe resembling the modern pavlova, the evidence currently favours New Zealand.
There.
We said it.
The New Zealanders may enjoy that sentence.
But history and cultural ownership aren’t always the same thing.
Pavlova became deeply embedded in Australian food culture too.
Australians have been baking, eating, adapting and occasionally destroying pavlovas for generations.
It became part of our celebrations.
Part of our Christmas tables.
Part of our family recipes.
And unquestionably part of Australian food history.
New Zealand doesn’t have to lose the pav for Australia to love it.
There is probably enough meringue to go around.
Why the Pavlova Has Lasted
Food fashions come and go.
Pavlova hasn’t.
Part of the reason is its simplicity.
The basic ingredients are inexpensive and familiar.
It can feed plenty of people.
It looks festive.
And the fruit can change with the season.
But there is something else.
Pavlova is tied to memories.
The pav Mum always made at Christmas.
The one Nan covered with passionfruit.
The pav somebody dropped on the way to a family barbecue.
The year it collapsed.
The year it was perfect.
The child waiting impatiently for dessert while the adults were still talking around the table.
Food becomes tradition because we attach people and places to it.
Pavlova has had almost a century to collect those memories.
The Pavlova Today
Modern Australian pavlovas can be as simple or elaborate as you like.
Some remain completely traditional.
Others are towering creations covered with mango, berries, edible flowers and elaborate decorations.
Celebrity chefs reinvent them.
Restaurants serve them.
Supermarkets sell ready-made bases.
Home cooks continue making them from scratch.
But the basic idea remains recognisable.
Crisp meringue.
Soft centre.
Cream.
Fruit.
Put one in the middle of an Australian table and nobody needs to ask what it is.
Pavlova – We’ll Call It a Shared Treasure
So who invented pavlova?
New Zealand currently has the strongest evidence for the earliest known recipe resembling the dessert we eat today.
Australia has its own early pavlova history and played a major role in turning the dessert into an Australasian classic.
Perhaps that’s where we should leave it.
The Kiwis can point to the old recipe.
Australians can point to generations of Christmas pavs.
And both countries can continue pretending the argument might one day be settled.
Because after nearly a century, the Australia-New Zealand pavlova rivalry has become almost as much of a tradition as the dessert itself.
Just don’t argue about it while somebody is cutting the pav.
You might miss out.
