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威靈頓牛排
文 楊佳瑜 譯 沈玫
來英國四年了，眼看再過不到一個月就要離開，有一天突然一驚，我還沒吃過英國名菜威靈頓牛排！
威靈頓牛排的來源有很多種說法，最有名的一種就是紀念在滑鐵盧之役中打敗拿破崙的威靈頓公爵。但即便如此，威靈頓牛排這道菜的發源地到底是哪裡，仍然眾說紛紜，畢竟英國人傳統上真的不會費心在肉上面做太多文章，這道菜不論是蘑菇醬還是奶油酥皮，或者是高級版的鵝肝醬，整個就是充滿法國料理的影子，英國人哪裡懶得做這些啊！但總之這道菜最後就是叫威靈頓牛排，而不是拿破崙牛排，勝者為王，敗者為寇！我懷疑如果在法國的餐廳裡點威靈頓牛排，不知道會不會被他們轟出來？可惡的英國佬，居然偷我們的料理去紀念打敗拿破崙的英國人！
跟法國菜慢工出細活相反，英國菜的特點就是簡單易做，俗又大碗。只要準備時間半個小時以上，或超過三道程序，對英國人來說就已經很複雜了。威靈頓牛排就是非常「不」英國，一般餐廳很少賣，就算有也很貴，而且不太只賣單份，通常只會提供給宴會團體食用。自己從頭做實在是太費工了，於是我糾團跟朋友一起線上訂一份，在家自己烤。我們跟 Waitrose 訂，還得給他們六天的準備時間呢！他們的威靈頓牛排，是由一整塊牛排，裹起蘑菇、雞肝白蘭地肉醬，再由奶油派皮包起來，我自己在家裡抹上蛋黃液慢慢烤熟。
這種牛排一定要整個一起烤，一切開就要立刻吃，所以為了配合所有人的口味，我把他烤到全熟，沒想到牛排一點都不乾！派皮讓蘑菇肉泥封在牛排外面，把整個肉汁都鎖住，很好吃！光是這樣就已經讓每個人吃到脹了，無法想像，如果真的在蘑菇醬之外再包一層鵝肝醬，這道菜一定熱量爆表！
為了滿額免運費，我們加買了一瓶酒和一個巧克力蛋糕，但我又做了一個應景的英國點心─麵包布丁。這就是真的英國菜了，跟正港的英國奶奶學的！麵包布丁傳統上是把乾掉的麵包用掉的好方法，畢竟在物資缺乏的年代，連麵包屑屑都不能浪費 (於是有蘋果麵包屑派這道菜)，更別說還完整的麵包了！所以就算乾掉又如何？別丟掉別丟掉，做成麵包布丁就好啦！
大家吃到捧著肚子動彈不得。當然啦，Ria 除外，吃完後 Ria 還是活蹦亂跳，還用烤盤當鼓敲！
Beef Wellington
Written by Nathalie Yang. Translated by Rosie Seville
I’ve been in England for 4 years. Now, with less than a month left to go, I realised I hadn’t yet eaten the famous English dish called Beef Wellington.
There are many theories about the origin of the name Beef Wellington, of which the most famous is that it was created to commemorate Napoleon’s defeat at the battle of Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington. But even if this is true, opinions still differ on quite where the origins of the dish lie. After all, the English have not traditionally bothered devoting too many efforts to the subject of meat; the mushroom sauce, butter pasty and high-grade foie gras echo the style of French cuisine - dishes the English are usually too lazy for. Yet the dish is called Beef Wellington, not Beef Napoleon - the winner takes all! I wonder whether, if someone ordered Beef Wellington in a restaurant in France, they would be thrown out? “The damned English actually stole our dishes to commemorate the Englishman who defeated Napoleon!”
Unlike the laborious process that is French cooking, English food is typically simple and easy to make; big, one-pot dishes. Dishes generally only take about half an hour to prepare, and anything with more than three steps is considered very complicated. Beef Wellington is not very English at all, and restaurants rarely sell it. If they do, it’s expensive, or they won’t sell single portions; it’s only served to groups. Making it yourself from scratch takes a lot of effort, so I got together a group of friends to order one online and bake it at home. We ordered ours from Waitrose, and even then we had to give them six days’ notice! Their Wellington was made from a single piece of steak rolled in mushrooms and chicken liver paté, then rolled in puff pastry; at home I brushed the outside with egg yolk and baked it.
This dish needs to be baked all at once, and once cut it must be eaten immediately. In order to suit all tastes, I cooked it well done: to my surprise, the steak wasn’t a bit dry! The pastry casing kept the mushroom and meat sauce sealed round the steak, so that all the gravy was locked in; it was delicious! Everyone ate till they were stuffed. I dread to think - one more layer of foie gras and the calorie content would be off the charts!
In order to meet the free delivery deal, we also bought a bottle of wine and a chocolate cake, but I also made an English dessert for the occasion – bread and butter pudding. This is a very traditional dish – I learnt it from a real-life English grandma! Bread and butter pudding was traditionally a way of using up stale bread. In times of shortage, even crumbs couldn’t be wasted - which is how dishes like apple crumble came about – not to mention a whole loaf! So if your bread’s dried out? Waste not, want not – make bread and butter pudding!
Everyone ate until they were clutching their stomachs, unable to move. Except for Ria, that is, who was still bouncing about, using the roasting pan as a drum!
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