Peach Melba is an elegant dessert consisting of vanilla ice cream that's topped with poached peaches and raspberry coulis. The dessert was created by Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy in London in 1892 for Dame Nellie Melba and her Covent Garden performance in Wagner's opera Lohengrin.

Originally, the dessert was presented on the back of an iced swan, and it was garnished with spun sugar, but Escoffier omitted the swan in later versions. Nowadays, peach Melba is prepared in other versions that replace peaches with apricots, strawberries, or pears, but as the creator said himself – ''Any variation on this recipe ruins the delicate balance of its taste'', so it's best to stick to the original recipe.

The dessert is also very popular in Australia. Interestingly, a deconstruction of the Peach Melba was the last dish at the famous elBulli restaurant before it closed in 2012.