ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Culture
MADE IN NZ
The Pavlova has been the cause of a culinary cold war between Australia and New Zealand for a number of decades now.
However as time goes on it comes across as more pathetic given that it’s effectively an ongoing debate about who combined sugar and egg whites together first, with both countries claiming to possess some sort of secret family recipe, handed down through generations.
Our reporters spoke to Kiwis about the ongoing trans-tasman feud.
“I guess you haven’t tasted a true pavlova until you’ve tried a Kiwi pav! It’s all about getting the egg whites and the sugar right. Definitely a homemade Kiwi thing” said Aucklander Sarah Watson.
“Ugh. Bloody Aussies. They’ve claimed Russell Crowe, Phar Lap and also Crowded House? The pav one is obvious though, of course we mixed egg whites with sugar before they did!” said Dan Biggins, also from Auckland.
While New Zealanders will always passionately claim pavlova as their own invention, one person who did not want to be named came up with perhaps the most logical and common sense comment yet.
“Well in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter who invented it first? The most important thing is that at some point, someone came up with the idea to combine sugar and egg whites to create this delicious dessert. I just love a pav.”
More to come.
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