Christmas Firsts #21 : Pavlova

Nothing quite as Aussie as a ‘pav’ at Christmas ? Continuing from yesterday’s Christmas first, today’s post stays with another favourite Christmas food. The pavlova is a much loved Aussie dessert, and is often served at a Christmas celebration in a wreath shape. Before I researched the FIRST pavlova for Christmas I was prepared to enter the controversy about ownership of the ‘pav” - Australia or New Zealand?

The pavlova is named after the famed Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia and New Zealand in 1926. As the New Zealand story goes, the chef of a Wellington hotel at the time created the billowy dessert in her honor, claiming inspiration from her tutu. Australians, on the other hand, believe the pavlova was invented at a hotel in Perth, and named after the ballerina when one diner declared it to be “light as Pavlova.” (From food52 blog)

What I didn't know was that it would appear now that neither Australia nor New Zealand can lay claim to the first pavlova dessert. Besides there being many other gourmet dishes named after the famous ballerina long before her ‘down under’ tour of 1926, recent research by Dr. Andrew Paul Wood and Annabelle Utrecht (a New Zealander and an Australian, respectively), maintains that something very much like a pavlova was popular with the Austrian Habsburgs of the 18th century. They also found similar meringue, fruit and cream torte recipes among those brought to America by the German immigrants who settled in the Midwest. These researchers also claim that the 1911recipe Strawberries Pavlova is the dessert we have come to love…

Just to complicate things further, I think the FIRST time I ever saw a Christmas wreath pavlova was the one made by Mary Berry, from the Great British Bake Off show. I can’t say that Mary Berry was the first person to make a Christmas wreath pavlova but she must be amongst the more famous chefs. However, I note that there are you tube how to videos for Christmas pavlovas by Curtis Stone, Donna Hay amongst many others … and here is one chosen at random.

Whatever the recipe or the variation, when you’re enjoying your Christmas pavlova, you might remember the controversy its origins have caused in the culinary world

Sources : https://food52.com/blog/16810-the-dessert-australians-and-new-zealanders-are-squabbling-over

http://www.mysquarefryingpan.com/berry-christmas-pavlova/

https://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/pavlova-research-reveals-desserts-shock-origins-20151010-gk5yv9

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlova_(food)

The Sea - for Tag Tuesday

For the current challenge "The Sea" at Tag Tuesday, I made a couple of painted/ hand drawn tags . These were created from a piece of watercolour paper which had been sprayed with acrylic paint - blue, yellow and quinacridone gold. I then sketched over the top , trying to follow some pattern created by the splatter and then add some felt tip pen lines watercolour pencil to highlight the shapes. The tags represent the fantasies of the hidden city of Atlantis and a mermaid. With this theme in mind, I also add a free motion stitched tag I made earlier this year for 29 Faces -

In the Pink

At Tag Tuesday . Pinky O' Hagan is hosting a tag challenge which asks for 'a bit of pink".... not so difficult if you like pink. I don't use a lot of pink in my work, so it was quite a bit of a challenge when I thought only of pink - my thoughts went to pink roses, pink hearts, pink confectionery !!! Then I referred to this week's colour prompts, #coloricombo by artists Este MacLeod.... pink with sap green, dark tea, and sea green. I'm not sure I got the colours in this palette exactly, but here is my tag, a stylised landscape - The collaged background of the tag has torn pieces of watercolour art rejects, painted magazine pages and a little bit of gift paper. The tree silhouette is decorated with paper dots, cut with a hole puncher.

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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