This laborious recipe for puff-wrapped meat survives fashions and not only remains in the classic dining rooms, it also reaches the modern ones and even stars updates
During the last years it has been a dish of Saturday (and, years ago, of Sunday) . At least, in Lakasa , the modernized food house of César Martín, in the Chamberí neighborhood (Madrid). But, since last September 2, Sirloin Wellington, this dish raised for a single day "while stocks last", has changed its calendar because the restaurant opens a new schedule: it opens from Monday to Friday and closes all weekend . "Now, we do it on Monday throughout the day and Friday at noon," says Martin. Your Wellington arrives cut to the table like a thick slice of juicy puff pastry coated meat . The chef emphasizes the keys to round the recipe: «We use the tenderloins +4 [equivalent to the highest quality] of Guikar; After trying many, they are the ones who gain in flavor, ”he confesses. As for the puff pastry, he says they don't do it themselves; they did tests with Mark Sinclair, but since this baker returned to live in the United States, they turn to a Madrid bakery: «Cientotreinta brings them to us; his puff pastry is amazing, ”adds the owner of Lakasa.
His is undoubtedly one of the most famous Wellington in the capital. When César Martín decided to start dispatching it one day a week (even for a long time he presented it in the living room in a cart ), he had not cooked this classic elaboration for years, at least, since his time at the hospitality school. Considered a kind of culinary old school , it is a piece of beef (cow, ox or beef) almost always accompanied by foie gras or pate and, sometimes, also mushrooms or mushrooms and onions. It is baked whole coated with puff pastry; afterwards, it is cut into slices, so that the meat is seen inside with the right point pulling slightly undercooked .
The history
The theories about its possible origin are several, however, it seems that it could be related, first, with recipes of puff pastry coated beef, which were already consumed in the Napoleonic Wars , between the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century; and, later, with boeuf en croûte , a piece of beef surrounded by puff pastry, which became a fashionable dish in Paris in the early 19th century. It seems that this French elaboration liked Arthur Wellesley, a soldier of Irish origin who met her when he was ambassador to the Court of Louis XVIII.
That boeuf in croûte was an inspiration to be renamed in England as a steak or sirloin Wellington , in honor of Wellesley, who, apart from being considered a hero in England for his participation in various battles such as Waterloo, was appointed First Duke of Wellington. He was said to be a real fan of the dish, which he asked for at almost any banquet.
What seems clear is that it managed to be erected in a kind of emblem of great celebrations , banquets and hotel kitchens, and today it can be attributed a complicated achievement: stay today in the menu of gastronomic spaces of diverse styles, from classic to modern and luxurious to casual , since this meat dressed in puff pastry retains its audience.
Something that not only corroborates Lakasa's effort to continue shipping this laborious recipe three of his ten services of the week. Horcher is also another example of fidelity to Wellington : since its opening in Madrid, in 1943, and for years, in this iconic dining room the recipe was dispatched. The Horcher family stopped serving it a decade ago, but eventually reversed its decision. " In recent years, we have offered it again only on request, since requests from customers have been increasing, " they recognize from this restaurant on Alfonso XII Street, just in front of El Retiro. To prepare it, they use beef tenderloin and it ends in the room , "like 70% of Horcher's dishes", they clarify.
More classic spaces of the capital keep it in his letter, such as Lhardy or José Luis , whose headquarters in Rafael Salgado Street counts it among his specialties. As in Sa Pedrera d'es Pujol (Menorca) , where his version of Wellington beef has been unbeatable in the letter for 16 years.
In addition, it is undeniable that it is a hotel dish. InterContinental Madrid is part of the brunch , which this Madrid establishment serves as a generous and late breakfast (or early lunch) every Sunday. In Córdoba Center and Andalucía Center they have dispatched from the classic version of veal to innovations such as chicken with mushrooms and caramelized onions, available at events.
Custom made
Given the industriousness of the recipe, the format of converting it to a plate on request spreads in more places. In Deluz & Cía. they resorted to this formula in La Carmencita , where, within a section of old dishes, Wellington was served with foie. In this Madrid food house they no longer offer it, but it does remain in the matrix of this Cantabrian group: «We have it only in Deluz [Santander], but only on request, since we do it as the classic recipe, for more than four diners ”, details Carlos Zamora, partner of this company. They use sirloin from Siete Valles de Montaña, a cooperative for organic farmers in their land. «Fausto Alonso [head chef of Grupo Deluz & Cía.] Tries to get a rosy color inside; between the puff pastry and the sirloin there is a duxelle [mincemeat] of mushrooms, mushrooms and shallot with grilled foie de Espinosa de los Monteros; It is wrapped in Italian roasted bacon and the puff pastry is homemade one hundred percent, ”says Zamora.
Located at the gates of the Humid Neighborhood, Casa Mando , a traditional Leonese cuisine house of Grupo Vamuca (owner of other businesses such as LAV and niMÚ), serves it on request, with a minimum advance of 24 hours. The whole piece of puff pastry is presented with the meat inside, accompanied by French fries and green peppers Padrón style.
With the same formula to eat at home or for events, Isabel Maestre prepares it , one of the first luxury catering in Madrid , in which the cook who baptizes this business “prepares it according to the original recipe that captivated the Duke of Wellington , with foie, chopped mushrooms and puff pastry one hundred percent handmade ”, details Marta Cárdenas Maestre, daughter of the founder. «We do it like a lifetime, with the duxelle ». For example, Christmas is a time when Maestre's recipe is in high demand among Madrid's clientele. "It's the star dish of winter," he confesses.
Like Lakasa, there are more stores that set a day to dispatch it. Thus, in Solomillo - a carnivorous concept in Barcelona - it used to be offered only on Wednesdays but sometimes it is available on other days of the week. For his part, Iván Sáez usually includes the recipe in the Christmas menus of Desencaja (Madrid). Other contemporary chefs also cheer with the Wellington. This is the case of Sergi Arola, who signed one last Christmas in the offer of V Club Feat Arola (Madrid) . In his television stage, premiered last March on TVE, through the Making of Food program , Dani García has prepared this dish, incorporating tricks such as the use of Dijon mustard, serrano ham, rosemary and thyme .
Classic and updated
We can also find it in some modern premises of more or less casual cut. «It's a classic that will never go out of style», predicts the Instagram account of Con Amor, Juanjo Canals restaurant, where this dish has already given some fame to this Madrid establishment . In Café Comercial , the emblematic capital space converted in 2017 by Grupo El Escondite, a Wellington sirloin is offered almost ration accompanied by roasted sweet potato .
In Ochenta Grados NextDoor , belonging to the Oscar García Torrente and José Manuel Vidal group (with several stores in Madrid), an orthodox sirloin is served to the point , mushroom duxelle and Iberian ham, cooked in butter puff pastry. The recipe is transformed into a kind of sandwich in La Laja (Los Caños de Meca, Cádiz) -with mushroom garnish-; In Vaqueta Gastro Mercat , a recently opened Valencian restaurant located in the back room of a greengrocer, and with views of the Mediterranean you can try the version of One Ocean Club , in the Port Vell of Barcelona. For its part, Breathe , a multispace in Marbella that advocates combining cuisine and sustainability, prepares its Galician meat proposal, usually accompanied by mushrooms, mashed potatoes and red wine sauce .
The replacement of beef with other meats is one of the ways of innovation around the recipe. In Puff Pastry , a concept devised just two years ago by Javier Bonet (Cutting Room), the star of its salty offer is Wellington, which is shipped as an equivalent of the hamburger and whose meat is coated with puff pastry, almost as if it were a snack. But it has one more peculiarity: apart from the cow - hit of the house -, there are two more versions: one of bluefin tuna and another of country chicken .
And one more modernization: in Tata Pila , a French-Andalusian bistrot in Seville, belonging to the Ovejas Negras Group, you can try the Iberian Wellington with mushroom duxelle , amontillado and herb mojo .
The sirloin dressed in puff pastry, a classic that is rentrée ; Well, it's never gone.
How to prepare it
The Wellington has variants, including one that has become famous for bearing the signature of television chef Gordon Ramsay (in whose particular version he adds Parma ham). In case you are encouraged to cook it at home, these are some keys to keep in mind. Essential, the quality of the meat and the care of the puff pastry , which will determine the elaboration. In addition, several steps have to be followed: first, seal the meat in a pan . Second, it is about assembling the dish in layers and then baking it. Therefore, on the puff pastry plate, you can build the recipe, placing layers of ham or bacon, the duxelle (mince in which mushrooms, onion, shallot or leek poached) and the spread of pate or foie ( there are those who introduce it in a piece, without spreading). Afterwards, the puff pastry plate is rolled with the sirloin, painted on the outside with egg to guarantee brightness and baked for 14 or 15 minutes at 200 degrees. «You can change the pate for duck foie, which will add aroma and flavor; put truffles in the mushroom or change the ham for truffled bologna ”, suggests Pepe Roch, executive chef of Café Comercial of the El Escondite Group. «If you want to give a touch of field, you can add a little thyme to the sofrito» .
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