Beef Wellington facts for kids
Beef Wellington is a special and delicious dish from England. It's made with a fancy cut of beef called fillet steak. This steak is covered with a tasty spread called pâté and a mix of finely chopped mushrooms called duxelles. Then, it's all wrapped up in puff pastry, which is a light, flaky dough. Finally, it's baked until golden brown.
Sometimes, cooks wrap the beef in a thin pancake (a crêpe) or a type of ham called parma ham. This helps keep the meat juicy and stops the pastry from getting soggy. You can bake a whole tenderloin and then slice it, or you can cut the beef into smaller pieces before wrapping and baking them.
What's in a Name?
The name "Beef Wellington" is a bit of a mystery! No one is completely sure how it got its name. It doesn't seem to have a clear connection to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who was a famous British general.
Some people think that meat baked in pastry was already popular in England. So, "Beef Wellington" might have been a new, patriotic name for a similar French dish called filet de bœuf en croûte. This means "fillet of beef in pastry." However, there are no old recipes from the 1800s that use the name "Beef Wellington."
The name started appearing in print around the early 1900s. For example, the Los Angeles Times mentioned "fillet of beef, a la Wellington" in 1903. An old menu from a ship line in 1899 also had a similar dish.
In Poland, a famous cookbook from 1909 by Maria Ochorowicz-Monatowa included a recipe for "Polędwica wołowa à la Wellington." This recipe was very much like the Beef Wellington we know today. It was beef fillet with mushrooms, wrapped in puff pastry, and baked. The author said she got the recipe from a cook at the imperial court in Vienna. She even suggested it for "exquisite dinners."
In 1914, a professional cookbook called Le Répertoire de la Cuisine described a "Wellington" garnish for beef. It said the beef was browned, covered in a poultry stuffing with dry mushrooms, and then wrapped in puff pastry and baked.
The first time the dish "Tenderloin of Beef Wellington" was officially recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary was in a 1939 New York food guide. This version was cooked, cooled, and then rolled in a pie crust.
Other Kinds of Wellington
You can find other dishes that are similar to Beef Wellington but use different main ingredients. For example, there are "sausage Wellington" and "salmon Wellington." People also make vegetarian versions, like mushroom Wellington or beet Wellington, which are just as tasty!
Images for kids
-
Whole Beef Wellington with a lattice design
-
Inside of a medium-rare Beef Wellington
See also
In Spanish: Solomillo Wellington para niños
