BEEF WELLINGTON
This quintessentially high-society dish dates back to the early 1900s and despite its name has no connection to Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington at all. There are multiple claims to its origin, but its similarity to the French filet de bœuf en croûte has lead food historians to the conclusion using Wellington in the name was a timely piece of patriotic rebranding, and one carried out not in England but in America.
The Los Angeles Times published a recipe in 1903 for “fillet of beef à la Wellington”, but it wasn’t until 1939 that the Wellington as we know it was first recorded in the 1939 Guide to Eating Out in New York. It described Tenderloin of Beef Wellington as larded tenderloin, roasted very rare and rolled in a pie crust.
Contemporary beef Wellington comprises a flash-seared fillet steak which, after chilling, is coated with pâté (often pâté de foie gras) and duxelle (a finely chopped mixture of mushrooms, shallots and herbs), then wrapped in puff pastry and baked, bearing more than a passing resemblance to the 1939 reference.
Served sliced and hot with roast or sautéed vegetables and jus, it’s quite a difficult dish to master and one of the best in the region is undoubtedly Gordon Ramsay’s signature Beef Wellington found seasonally at Bread Street Kitchen in Singapore, Hong Kong and around the world. It’s a recipe he also teaches at his cooking classes in London.
