The war for the pavlova has been won.
A new listing in the Oxford English Dictionary says the meringue-based dessert was invented in New Zealand.
Australia has long tried to claim it created the Kiwi treat, named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who visited the Antipodes in the 1920s.
That claim has now been debunked after the Oxford yesterday relaunched its online addition, saying the first recorded pavlova recipe appeared in New Zealand in 1927.
The recipe was in a book called Davis Dainty Dishes, published by the Davis Gelatine company, and it was a multi-coloured jelly dish.
New Zealanders claim the meringue version also originated there, with recipes for it appearing in publications in 1928 and 1929.
The Australian claim centres on a recipe created by Bert Sachse, a chef at the Esplanade Hotel in the western city of Perth, as late as 1935.
Pavlova expert Dr Helen Leach of the University of Otago, who published a book called "The Pavlova Story", said though the pavlova was not what we know as a pavlova today the claim still stacked up.
"I can find at least 21 pavlova recipes in New Zealand cookbooks by 1940, which was the year the first Australian ones appeared."
Australia, of course, has tried to brush off the Oxford's ruling, ...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/4418676/New-Zealand-wins-pavlova-warNow, who invented the Lamington?