A taste of the real Kiwi pavlova
For almost a century, no real New Zealand feast or happy family celebration would be complete without the crowning treat - a classic Kiwi pavlova topped with cream, kiwifruit or summer berries.
For almost as long, debate has raged between Kiwis and Aussies on the true origin of the meringue-based dessert - though everyone agrees that it was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who visited Downunder in the 1920s.
Well finally, it seems, the debate has been put to rest by an English authority - no less than the Oxford English Dictionary’s online edition which has recognised the pavlova as a New Zealand invention.
According to the OED, the first recorded ‘pavlova’ recipe appeared in a New Zealand recipe book in 1927. It’s not exactly end-of-story because that was a jelly-like dessert, but other NZ publications from 1928 and 1929 cited recipes more closely resembling the modern dessert.
Pavlova Paradise
British author, television commentator and politician Austin Mitchell famously dubbed New Zealand as "the half-gallon quarter-acre pavlova paradise" in his best selling commentary on life in New Zealand published in 1972.
While the ‘nouvelle cuisine’ of the 80s and 90s sidelined the pavlova for a bit, nostalgia and the search for ‘real Kiwi cuisine’ have helped create a pavlova revival that keeps it on menus up and down the length of New Zealand.
But, if the pavlova’s origins are no longer in dispute, the debate for where to go for the best ‘pav’ will likely never be put to rest.
Kiwis typically maintain that their own "mum, nana or Aunty Pat does the world’s best pav", but aside from that most Kiwi chefs have grown up cooking pavlovas so there are many New Zealand restaurants and cafés where diners can sample the classic dessert.
Crowne Plaza Christchurch's executive chef Tony Smith was cooking pavlovas in Temuka from age 12 and selling them to local weddings. Having mastered the pavlova art, Smith moved on to other delicacies and is considered a legend for his Kiwi specialty skills.
Kiwi pavlova places
You’ll never have to go far to find a pavlova in New Zealand, but here are a few suggestions:
- Orbit, at the top of Auckland’s Sky Tower - the tallest building in the southern hemisphere - has what must be the world’s highest pavlova. Tuck into ‘pavlova with feijoa and quark mousse, tangy apple compote and cinnamon Chantilly’ as the restaurant slowly revolves revealing 360-degree views of Auckland, and the Waitemata and Manukau harbours.
- Just below, down on the Viaduct Harbour, leading Auckland restaurant Euro serves pavlova with kiwifruit and ice-cream made with L&P - or Lemon & Paeroa - an iconic Kiwi tipple that has its source in a spring in the little Waikato town of Paeroa.
- Wellington insiders highly rate the ‘pavlova with lemon curd, elderflower jelly and fresh passionfruit’ on the dinner menu at Café Polo, in suburban Miramar and close to Peter Jackson’s renowned film studios. Hollywood director Guillermo del Toro once claimed that Vivianna’s lemon square (also from Café Polo) was the reason he’d had to start wearing sweat pants.
- Australian blogger Not Quite Nigella raved about the ‘brown sugar pavlova with poached sweet black doris plums’ at Wellington’s quirky Floriditas. Floriditas occupies an art deco heritage building in Wellington’s hip must-see shopping and food quarter of Cuba Street.
- Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, in Christchurch, might just take the cake for the world’s most kiwi pavlova. Home to the NZ Conservation Trust kiwi breeding programme, the wildlife reserve produces kiwis as well as many things kiwi including a ‘mini pavlova with kiwifruit couli and fresh cream’ that figures on a distinctly Kiwi menu served in the reserve’s café.
- At Christchurch’s Mona Vale - an historic homestead surrounded by heritage gardens - the favourite dessert order is ‘pavlova sandwich layered with summer berry mousse’ which combines classic crispy exterior soft-centred meringue with mouth-watering berries. It’s an essential component of the iconic restaurant’s fine cuisine menu and especially popular with tourists, says executive chef Karon Sanctuary.
Pavlova has been especially big on the menu in Christchurch this year. In August, local chef Aaron Campbell whipped up a giant pavlova - a 50sqm expanse made of 10,000 egg whites and more than 600kg of sugar. Created in the shape of a rugby field, the 10,000-portion pav was sold off in aid of charity.
Cowell's Genuine Pavlovas
And, for those who want to do it at home, but don’t know how, there are always Cowell's Genuine Pavlovas - New Zealand’s leading branded pavlova, and the first pavlova to be commercially distributed.
A couple of enterprising ex-pat Brits - Ron and Audrey Cowell - founded the original coffee shop in Dunedin in the mid-1960s that has grown into a nationwide business producing and selling pavlovas into supermarkets and boutique food stores throughout New Zealand.
Audrey Cowell started out with an original recipe from New Zealand’s iconic Edmonds Cookbook and, having first learned to cook a pavlova, went on to create an 80cm high marshmallow-filled version that was sold by the slice in the coffee shop.
Pavlova professor
Professor Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand, has compiled a library of cookbooks containing 667 pavlova recipes from more than 300 sources.
Leach’s The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand’s Culinary History states that the first Australian pavlova recipe was created in 1935, while an earlier version was penned in 1929 in the rural magazine NZ Dairy Exporter Annual.
Australian website ‘Australian Flavour’ gives the earlier date of 1926, suggesting that Home Cookery for New Zealand, by E Futter, contained a recipe for ‘Meringue with Fruit Filling’. This recipe was similar to today's version of the dessert.
Background: Kiwi pavlova
Pavlova is a meringue dessert, crisp on the outside but light and fluffy inside, and traditionally topped with whipped cream and tropical fruit - especially kiwifruit.
The dessert was created to honour the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, during or just after one of her Australasian tours in the 1920s.
Pavlova is made by beating egg whites (at room temperature) until they are stiff and fluffy, then beating in sugar and a small amount of white vinegar and vanilla.
The dessert is a popular dish in New Zealand and is frequently eaten during celebratory or holiday meals such as Christmas dinner. Commercially made pavlovas are available in supermarkets.
More information
On the trail of great Kiwi eats
Kirihimete - New Zealand Christmas experience
Unique taste of New Zealand
These topics may also be of interest to you
|
