The origins of the beloved dessert are more complicated than you think. Of all the New Zealand inventions which Australia has attempted to steal – sausage sizzles , Phar Lap, Russell Crowe – there is none that raises the heckles more than pavlova. The best known Australian origin claim, once cited in the Macquarie Dictionary, was that chef Bert Sachse invented the pavlova at Esplanade Hotel in Perth in 1935.