In an interview with Woman’s Day in 1973, Sachse said the proprietress, Elsie Ploughman, and Nairn recruited him to make something “different and unique” as a cake or sweet.
On the Australia side, chef Herbert “Bert” Sachse is said to have created the pavlova at Perth's Esplanade Hotel in 1935, and it was named by the house manager, Harry Nairn, who remarked it was “as light as pavlova”. The dessert was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who was a megastar when she toured both countries in the 1920s. Like many in the industry, Gilmore had long believed the pavlova to be an Australian creation, only recently discovering New Zealand also makes the same claim.
So, when I put my Sydney Opera House-shaped version on the menu at Bennelong, passionfruit was the obvious choice for me to feature.”
“I think of the Australian variety having tropical fruit, like passionfruit and mangoes. “When I was growing up in the 1970s, I remember my mum would make a pavlova and take it to friends’ houses and parties,” said Australian chef Peter Gilmore, who is known for his meringue-based Snow Egg dessert, which found fame in the 2010 series of MasterChef Australia.
