The pavlova is a meringue dessert which is said to have originated either in Australia or New Zealand. Not content with the uncertainty of its origins, two historians, Annabelle Utrecht from Australia, and Andrew Paul Wood from New Zealand, wanted to remove all doubt and get down to the bottom of things.
What they found was an interesting revelation indeed for the both of them. There have been attempts to assert the claim over the pavlova, and according to a few sources, it seemed that New Zealand was the clear winner. However, the two historians dug even further into the roots of pavlova, and traced its journey to the United States, and finally to Austria.
Apparently, the predecessor of the pavlova was called the Spanische windtorte, popular in Austria during the 17th and 18th centuries which was a variation of the European petit meringues.
When German immigrants traveled and settled in the United States, they brought those desserts along with them in the form of the schaum torte and baiser torte. Then, as these desserts rose in popularity, they found themselves traversing the globe and finding their way to New Zealand.
Why the pavlova was named such, however, was even more of a mystery and an interesting find for the two historians. It was named after Anna Pavlova who was a Russian ballerina.
Surprisingly, the meringue pavlova wasn't the only food named after the famous ballerina. There was also such a thing as "Strawberries Pavlova", which wasn't made of meringue at all. It was a sorbet.
In any case, how the pavlova got its name came from the story of a New Zealand chef who had taken inspiration from the Russian ballerina while she toured New Zealand and Australia, and so gave birth to the meringue pavlova, and named it in her honor.
And since the early 1930s, the pavlova has been a staple Christmas dessert in New Zealand and later in Australia.
(Image credit: Deborah Rainford/Unsplash)