NZ Declares Dessert Wars on Australia – Throws Down Tea Towel
Uploaded on Flickr by ms sdb
Kiwi Prime Minster John Keys threw down the Tea Towel gauntlet last week over Australian claims that they invented the Palova dessert.
Mr Key called Australia’s long-standing claim to have invented the pavlova, “ridiculous”. He went on to urge Australia to acknowledge the true lineage of the meringue dessert topped by cream and tropical fruit, typically Kiwifruit belongs to New Zealand.
According to the august UK newspaper The Independent:
Australians have long believed it was created in 1935 by a chef called Bert Sachse, at Perth’s Esplanade Hotel, in honour of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, pictured, who visited Australia in 1926 and again in 1929.
However, Helen Leach, an academic at New Zealand’s Otago University, has found a pavlova recipe in a 1933 Mothers’ Union cookbook, and another in a 1929 rural magazine. Both call the dessert a pavlova, stipulate the same ingredients used by modern cooks and recommend the same cooking method.
Mr Key told Australian Associated Press: “It’s totally ridiculous for Australians to claim that they have pavlova, or Phar Lap, or any of those iconic New Zealand items. Everyone knows that they’re ours and for Australia to claim ownership of them is quite inappropriate.”
This Cold Dessert War has been a sticking point between the two countries along with the pedigree of the champion horse Phar Lap and the awarding winning kiwi band Crowded House. What is not in contention is that Russell Crowe annoys the heck out of both countries (Crowe as born in New Zealand but became a naturalized Aussie last year).
What ever becomes of this trans-tasman imbroglio, is it safe to say that the relationship between the two close countries will not turn to custard anytime soon.
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I’d love to be caught in the middle of a dessert war.
~ Kristi
I was thick with the word play on this post.
@: Who cares? Certainly not I, there are much more important things to worry about that who invented a some dessert.
Say, did you know we import Kiwi fruit from Italy? Maybe it has something to do with our relationship being custard?
Ha great post! I’ll laugh every time I eat pavlova now.
@sire: I was only exercising my culinary commentary, and you are right it is a lighthearted and irrelevant post.
Cheers
@: Lucky for you I couldn’t prove we came up with the recioe first
Say, you never answered the part about Kiwi fruit from Italy?
@sire: The is a number of countries that now produce kiwifruit including Italy and Argentina. It is one of those things, you can’t stop people from developing their own industries. I of course only eat the real thing.
@: And so you should, I also try to buy true Aussie goods but it’s getting harder an harder these days.
[...] 1 festive dessert by a recent survey, the Pavlova has emerged clearly as a Kiwi favorite despite a recent cross Tasman piracy attempt. Cowell’s Genuine Pavlova is a part of NZ history with the first kitchen opening in 1972 in [...]
Nice post! It’s very funny and still can’t believe about this cold war between both the countries.