What is Beef Wellington? - About This Most Tender Steak Cut

Beef Wellington is one of the famous dishes that are considered as a prime dish: Beef tenderloin is layered between a mushroom mixture known as Duxelles.  Afterward, it will be enclosed in a golden brown, flaky puff pastry before it is being baked in the oven. This entrée dish makes use of only the best and most tender steak cuts that are available. People can usually find this dish on the menu of several fine dining steakhouses. Several variations are known and ingredients might partly differ. Just have a look at our cooking guide and the recipe collection to get a better idea.

With regards to its origin, there are several issues surrounding it.

History of Beef Wellington

Many people attest to the Wellington as a French dish. In France, it was known as Filet de Boeuf en Croûte. But since the ties between France and England were not okay during the time, there was an English chef who changed its name so that the famous Duke of Wellington will be honored. Thus the name, Beef Wellington, has emerged.

Aside from the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, the Beef Wellington dish has also been a favorite of the late President Richard Nixon. In fact, the US President made the dish resurge in the 1960s when he claimed that it is his favorite. He has even chosen to have the dish served at each dinner he hosted throughout his stay in the office.

But what is this dish really? We all know that it obviously contains beef. But why is it so special that these prominent people favor it so much? To answer this, Beef Wellington is simply a beef tenderloin dish which is encased inside a pastry crust and cooked to perfection. Tenderloin how ever is the leanest part of the steer or heifer, just Filet Mignon, being the leanest part of the tenderloin can be tenderer.

As with most of the classical recipes, the exact place and date when this dish was created is a quagmire. The possible birthplaces of the Beef Wellington include France, England, Ireland, and Africa. However, there are a lot of culinarians who attest to the dish having French roots. This is because the French introduced the idea of wrapping meat in pastry crusts. And it was not until 1815 that this became a novel idea.

Beef Wellington is a prime dish: puff pastry, Duxelles, Foie Gras and Beef Tenderloin are the ingredients used at least. Here it is served with caviar, too.

The history of this dish is not only the one that sparks enough controversy and debate. This is because even the ingredients of the dish are being argued about. The dish used to be believed to only be beef enclosed in a simple dough consisting of plainly flour and water. But throughout the years, the basic dough was substituted by puff pastry.

As opposed to the simple dough, puff pastry is more meticulous and requires much labor. This is because the person preparing the dish will need to distribute cold butter between the different dough layers and then fold the dough over after rolling it out. The process is then repeated several more times until they get a multi-stratified dough containing butter and flour. Once this new dough is baked, the butter that melts releases a steam which then puffs the dough; through the separation of several flaky layers. It can be hard to make this from scratch. As a result, there are many people who opt for the pre-made, frozen version they can just buy.

Even the authenticity of the Beef Wellington dish has been questioned. This is because the real “authentic” version has meat topped with Duxelles and Foie Gras before it is enclosed with the dough. Since Foie Gras is an expensive ingredient, it is usually omitted or even replaced with another liver pate variety. For this reason, different varieties and recipes have emerged.

Perhaps the reason why this dish is so significant is because of the way it is prepared. Beef Wellington is being served in only the finest and most prestigious events and restaurants in the country. Unless you are really rich, you cannot serve the dish on a daily basis. This is especially true if you are using Foie Gras. But nevertheless, it is one dish that can be interesting to try.