Pavlova

Meringues or Pavlovas? Legend has it that an Australian chef created this simple but heavenly dessert after seeing ballet legend Anna Pavlova's light and graceful dancing. Though some dispute that the dish was originally created in New Zealand, many have come to know and regard it as an Australian dish. Many versions of meringue abound, but comprising of egg whites and sugar.

Who is Anna Pavlova's? At a time when romanticism was out of favour and the technical virtuosity of Italian ballerinas were all the rage, Anna Pavlova's fiuid and lyrical dancing style put Russian ballet back on the map. A graduate of the famed lmperial School of the Maryinsky Ballet, her future as dancer seemed bleak as child as she had weak feet and a scrawny body that cost her years in waiting time before the school would accept her. Possessing none of the showy, Anna's talent lay only in her ability to convery emotion andd expression with a fluid, ethereal grace that thrilled the watching world. She went on to inspire balletomania in all corners of the globe. In fact, Sir Frederick Ashton, a legendary name with the English Royal Ballet, credited his love for ballet simply after watching a performance given by Anna, She passed on in 1931, after contracting pleurisy, her performances in La Bayadere, Giselle, Les Sylphides and The Dying Swan ensured her immortality.