Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Christchurch: Baking Pavlova

Emus: large, flightless, frighteningly crabby. Chickens: small, not very flight-oriented, frighteningly hungry all the time. Christchurch: European-imitation city on the midway point of South Island's east coast.


In an abundance of eggs, one must make PAVLOVA, New Zealand's favorite cake. Basically you whip 4 egg whites into submission with a cup sugar. When it's stiff, you add a teaspoon of lemon or vinegar, and bake it. My own Pavlova, although with fresh eggs from that morning and delish organic sugar, fell flat and ended up being either a marshmallow or a sugary omelet, depending on your point of optimism. I'm happy to say it was very good for me, thanks to the eggs, and I slept about 3 hours, thanks to the sugar.