Gundagai: Beef Wellington (1965)

[Dennis R. Preston]

>>It is Szathmáry in fact (although in his cookbooks he uses an
>>anglicized "Louis" for his first name).

dInIs (aka Denes)



>>I suspect it may come from Louis Szmathy (correct Hungarian
>>spelling?) and his famous Chicago restaurant. I'll do some
>>checking.
>
>I don't know how they keep the pastry surrounding the beef from sogging out.
>I suspect the pastry is done on a special pre-heated rack, with a
>strategically placed drain hole. My one experience with beef wellington was
>in Chicago. This was a filet mignon surrounded by a magnificant, nicely
>browned pastry ('pie crust'). This restaurant also had the *best* apple
>strudel I've ever had (melt in your mouth). And also wonderful coffee, made
>fresh at the table. Possibly this was the aforementioned restaurant? It was
>in a rather humdrum neighborhood. But the service was magnificant -- and
>utterly lacking in the pompousness I associate with restaurants of this
>calibre.
>
>Working from memory, a real beef wellington is a larger cut of beef (a prime
>rib?) meant to be served with *considerable* ceremony.
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--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736