An Australian chef told me he once served a square of thick sponge cloth, dipped in red food dye and coated in coconut, among real lamingtons in an officers' mess. I returned the favour with a story of flavoured shaving foam served in the form of a good old Kiwi pavlova in Sydney.
There was silence on the other end of the phone and then, "Don't you mean the Aussie pav mate?".
And so goes Downunder's greatest, longest lasting food feud.
In fact, Kiwis have this story well and truly covered. Anna Matveyevna Pavlova's first tour as a ballerina to Australia and New Zealand in 1926. A chef in a Wellington hotel created the pavlova in her honour, inspired by Pavlova's tutu draped in green silk leaves. He sculpted meringue to the shape of a tutu, with whipped cream as the froth of the white-net skirt and slices of kiwifruit substituted for the leaves.
In Australia, Herbert Sachse of Perth's Esplanade Hotel created this pavlova as a tea dessert after the ballerina's 1929 tour. In 1973, Herbert said in an interview that he had sought to improve a recipe he found in a Women's Mirror magazine - the contributor was a New Zealander.
Despite who you think invented it, the fact remains we're all very familiar with this iconic dessert - snap-crisp on the outside with a gooey marshmallow interior.
My mum makes wonderful pav, using room-temperature egg whites, a little cornflour and vinegar to stabilise the meringue, and a low, static oven to bake it firm. If disaster strikes - like her son knocking it off the window ledge and shattering it into meringue tiles - it can still be glued back together, with whipped cream and passionfruit, to recreate a masterpiece.
Many folks suffer pav-making anxiety, but the trick lies in the quality of the egg whites. Older egg whites whip better, and reach three to four times their volume.
If you have any yolk among the egg whites, a dirty bowl or whisk, they simply won't whip.
If you are hand-whipping, whisk briskly from side to side until they're firm but don't over-whip as they will turn back into liquid.
Sugar should be gradually added after the egg whites are beaten to soft peaks. Keep beating until all of it is dissolved. The meringue must be used straight away as it will separate and go grainy. Souffles can be another scary prospect, but a souffle omelette is definitely worth a try. Take three egg yolks and beat with a tablespoon of warm honey or agave nectar. Fold in two whipped egg whites, then spoon carefully into a pre-heated omelette pan. Let the egg set over the heat for about a minute, then put into a 175C oven for six to eight minutes. Remove from the oven and fold over berries, then dust with icing sugar.
White magic (+recipes)
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