Australia and New Zealand have spent decades feuding over who invented the pavlova, the meringue dessert named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova during her 1920s tours. This deep dive starts with the chemistry: how vinegar and cornflour create a crisp shell around a soft marshmallow center.

We then weigh the evidence, from Helen Leach’s 21 New Zealand recipes by 1940 to Emily Futter’s 1922 Australian meringue and chef Bert Sachse’s 1935 Perth claim. Research by Andrew Paul Wood and Annabel Utrecht traces the dish back to Austrian Spanische Windtorte, German-American foam cakes, and recipes printed on American cornflour packaging.

• Why acid and cornflour stabilize egg whites and why a topped pavlova must be served quickly
• New Zealand’s timeline, from a 1926 layered jelly to the 1934 recipe with vinegar
• Why critics reject the 1922 Australian claim and the problem with the Sachse timeline
• Michael Symons’ theory of social invention and the Oxford English Dictionary’s ambiguous ruling
• Christmas toppings, the 64 meter Pav Kong, and the 2018 Norwegian world record