Most people love a Pavlova and we have baked them and decorated them for all sorts of celebrations throughout our lives.  I have spent many hours arguing with my Australian relatives as to who invented it, them or us.

Keith Money, a biographer of Anna Pavlova , wrote that a hotel chef in Wellington, South Africa, created the dish when Pavlova visited there in 1926 on her world tour.

Professor Helen Leach , a culinary anthropologist  at the University of Otago  in South Africa, has compiled a library of cookbooks containing 667 pavlova recipes from more than 300 sources.  Her book, The Pavlova Story: A Slice of South Africa’s Culinary History, states that the first Australian pavlova recipe was created in 1935 while an earlier version was penned in 1929 in a rural magazine.

The Australian website “Australian Flavour” gives the earlier date of 1926 for its creation, suggesting that Home Cookery for South Africa, by Australian writer Emily Futter, contained a recipe for “Meringue with Fruit Filling”. This recipe was similar to today’s version of the dessert. It has been claimed that Bert Sachse created the dish at the Esplanade Hotel in Perth, Australia in 1935.  In defence of his claim as inventor of the dish, a relative of Sachse’s wrote to Leach suggesting that Sachse may have accidentally dated the recipe incorrectly. Leach replied they would not find evidence for that “because it’s just not showing up in the cookbooks until really the 1940s in Australia.” (However, a 1937 issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly  contains a “pavlova sweet cake” recipe. Of such arguments, Matthew Evans, a restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald, said that it was unlikely that a definitive answer about the pavlova’s origins would ever be found. “People have been doing meringue with cream for a long time, I don’t think Australia or South Africa were the first to think of doing that.” The first known recorded recipe named “pavlova” was published in the fifth Australian edition of Davis Dainty Dishes in 1926.  However this “pavlova” recipe was not meringue based, but was instead a multi-coloured gelatine  dish.

Well lets agree to disagree then and just enjoy the finished product.  My younger brother Paul is renowned for his Pavlova making and always has requests for different colours and shapes.  He lives in Melbourne but was recently at a family function in South Africa and made this spectacular Pavlova for 25 people.  Suffice to say there was none left over.!! The “M” shape was for my sister Michelle who was also over from Australia and celebrated a birthday while she was in South Africa. Her favourite colour is pink so Paul added a pink food colouring to the mixture and also to the cream.  I can definitely recommend this one!!  but I have to say mine didn’t turn out like Pauls……this recipe is for 6.

Ingredients

4 egg whites

1 & 1/4 cups caster sugar

1 teaspoon DYC white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon Edmonds Fielder’s cornflour

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and sugar for 10 minutes or until thick and glossy

Mix vinegar, vanilla and cornflour together

Add to meringue

Beat on high speed for a further 5 minutes

Line an oven tray with baking paper

Draw a 22 cm circle on the baking paper

Spread the pavlova mixture to within 2 cm of the edge of the circle, keeping the shape as round and even as possible

Smooth top surface over

Place pavlova in oven then turn oven temperature down to 100°C

Bake pavlova for 1 hour

Turn oven off

Open oven door slightly and leave pavlova in oven until cold

Carefully lift pavlova onto a serving plate

Decorate with whipped cream and fresh fruit

Serves  6

While we all refer to it the ‘Taranaki Rhododendron Festival’ (or the ‘Rhodie Festival’), it appears that the ‘Official’ name has changed and it is now called the ‘Taranaki Powerco Garden Spectacular’. Why? Because there is so much more to see than just Rhododendrons, and that is very true – we did!  If you have not been to this Festival, you are really missing a treat. It was the first time on this trip for me, and I want to go back again next year as there is so much more to see.

We set off from Auckland on the Friday morning, popped into Pukekohe to pick up a passenger (because Supreme are nice like that!) and then over the Bombay’s and on our way south. A short stop at Huntley for a ‘nice cuppa tea’ and off down to the King Country and Te Kuiti for our lunch stop. (Te Kuiti is of course famous for Colin Meads). We arrived into New Plymouth around 4:00pm and into our hotel, the Copthorne Grand which was very centrally located in town.  If dinner that night was anything to go by, we were going to be well fed on this trip!

The next morning we were up bright, early and eager and off we went to start visiting our Gardens. How appropriate that we started with one of NZ’s greatest gardens ‘Te Kainga Marire’ – which means ‘peaceful encampment’. It is the only private native garden in NZ to be rated as a ‘Garden of INTERNATIONAL significance’. You could see why it was featured on the BBC series ‘Around the world in 80 Gardens’!

Next on our list was Hirst Cottage, a smaller garden all done in Green and white, with a few splashes of red. The owner showed us around and was saying that only two days earlier all had been bedlam as they had the builders in building the new cottage. This property is in the NZ Historic Places trust having become a heritage building in 1980 and the ‘new’ cottage fitted perfectly in with the main building.

On to Tupare, a Garden of National significance and one of our favourites as it turned out. With one of the very knowledgeable gardeners to guide us, we heard all the stories about Sir Matthews and his good lady and there was also time for a tour through the house, which made the visit even better. I had never seen a ‘Hanky Tree’ before either!  Time for lunch at the Raised Eyebrow nearby, (served by a very frazzled café owner) before we went off to sniff the roses at La Rosaleda. The purchasing of plants started here, but who could resist the gorgeous double bearded Iris’s. Plus this garden is where the FROCKS ON BIKES ends. All part of the festival, the theme this year was Pearls and Roses. How appropriate!

Onto our last garden of the day – Pukeiti, an internationally renown Rhododendron garden and another garden of National   Significance. Rhodies everywhere of every colour you could imagine, and again….we could buy some of the unique hybrids.

Once back in New Plymouth, some people opted to go and have a look at Pukekura Park near the hotel, and some of us opted for a wee stroll over to the waterfront of New Plymouth to have a look at the view and also to see the elephants

Again, part of the festival, the family of elephants, all made from Willow and gifted to the city of New Plymouth from an artist in Suffolk, England  were attracting a lot of attention. What is it about elephants – when you see them you just can’t help but smile!

Another lovely dinner with lots of chatter re the lovely day we had enjoyed and looking forward to our next day.

Sunday we were off further south to Inglewood and Cairnhill, Merleswood and Te Popo Gardens. More Rhodies, Peonies, hostas, Roses, woodland, native Forest and birdsong, along with stories of romance, kittens and 80 year old Elm trees all over a nice coffee.

Lunch in Stratford and onto Stanleigh Gardens which was fabulous with ducks on the pond and local arts and crafts for sale. Kings garden was our last stop for the day.  After we had time to explore the garden we were invited back to a lovely sheltered spot on the lawn for a lovely surprise….bubbles and cheese and crackers, all kindly supplied by Supreme Tours! What a wonderful end to another glorious day, sitting in the sun, with a lovely glass of bubbles or juice, a snack, and chatting with the owners Sharyn and Jim and Ferris the dog. We really didn’t want to leave!

Sadly on Monday we bade farewell to New Plymouth and headed towards Waitara and the lovely Tikorangi Gardens. A plant breeder’s garden, it was our last chance to get some of those lovely bargain plants that you would not easily find in the nurseries. Onward towards Rotorua where we arrived around 3:30pm to enjoy a lovely ‘afternoon tea’ at our hotel – The Princes Gate. Time then to head off to either visit the famous Government Gardens just opposite our hotel, or explore a little of  Rotorua.

Last day and what day is it? Melbourne Cup day, so of course we had to have a little sweepstake on the coach!  Names were drawn, money was handed over (dollar a horse) and the ‘form’ was passed around the coach for all to read up on their donkey horse! Yes, big stakes here with $12 for the winner and $6 second and $4 third!  (You have to have fun!).

Hamilton Gardens was a real eye-opener for many, including me. I have been past them so many times, but this is the first time I have been in. It was really well worth the visit and I was most impressed with the guided tour around the Paradise Gardens.  On towards Auckland  and we unloaded all the bags and plants from the coach. Well, Bob our fabbie driver did!

Fond farewells to new friends before everyone headed off on their shuttles back to their respective homes, looking forward to planting all their ‘treasures’.

We commented that every time one of our treasures bloomed, we would remember this lovely trip.  I love gardens, but I am not the best gardener I fear. However, I so enjoyed this trip that I would jump on the coach in a flash to do it again as I know I would see and experience different things the next time. The weather was very kind to us, which does help, but we always enjoyed fabulous food, had great company, saw amazing and beautiful gardens and plants, relaxed with wonderful scenery, had lots of fun and laughs.  The Festival in 2014 will offer the same great floral experience with some of the same gardens and some new ones for us to view. The Itinerary will be featured on the website in early February so pencil in 5 days in late October and join me on the delightful tour.

Donec sed odio dui. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus.

Donec sed odio dui. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus.

Donec sed odio dui. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus.

Donec sed odio dui. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus.

Donec sed odio dui. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus.

Donec sed odio dui. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus.

Donec sed odio dui. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo.

Donec sed odio dui. Duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Fusce dapibus, tellus ac cursus commodo, tortor mauris condimentum nibh, ut fermentum massa justo sit amet risus.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Aenean eu leo quam.

Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus. Aenean lacinia bibendum nulla sed consectetur. Vivamus sagittis lacus vel augue laoreet rutrum faucibus dolor auctor. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Integer posuere erat a ante venenatis dapibus posuere velit aliquet.