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Giving it some welly
ertain dishes have such a reputation for difficulty that most of us don’t even bother attempting them, and (along with souffles and
macarons), the beef wellington is right up there. A luxurious cut of meat in rich mushroom sauce and golden pastry, its preparation requires expensive ingredients and multiple techniques: the threat of a soggy bottom looming ominously throughout. A challenge for even the most avid cook, definitely, but when it’s done right, a real showstopper of a dish. If you can’t be bothered with the hassle and want a perfectly cooked wellington delivered directly to your doorstep, seek out the services of new Cambridge company Mucca, which launched during the spring lockdown. It’s the brainchild of William Hart, a chef who’s worked in some of the UK’s top Michelin-starred restaurants, and his friend Jon Millard, who comes from a confectionary background and brings experience on the management and logistics side of things. “It was while we were all isolating during the first lockdown that Mucca was created, when it would probably be fair to say most of the country felt a sense of uncertainty surrounding their jobs, and sadly many still do,” explains Jon. William’s planned restaurant was on hold and his wife was on furlough, while Jon had not long started his young family and his wife was out of work due to the pandemic. “William phoned me and just said ‘beef wellingtons’,” he laughs. “The irony was, despite being very niche, I had mentioned the same idea last winter to my wife, and I knew straight away what William was suggesting. It seemed like one of those ‘this is more than a coincidence’ moments.” Research began in earnest, with the
pair ordering every beef wellington that they could find and taste-testing them all, eventually settling on a recipe with a cut of extra mature Aberdeen Angus beef fillet and a mushroom duxelles flavoured with a 6-year-old Madeira and freshly picked thyme, encased in double lattice puff pastry. They seem to have nailed it, if the rush of orders and sell-outs so far is anything to go by. “We say that our products are from our chef to your table, and this is genuinely the case,” says Jon. “Our success has been down to the high number of reorders from customers and recommendations that they give. We’ve received orders from Olympic athletes, celebrity chefs, Formula One race car drivers, TV personalities and actors – but we don’t realise who has ordered until we see them mention us on social media reviewing our wellingtons!”
IMAGES Mucca’s beef wellingtons are available in a range of sizes, and are made using Aberdeen angus beef, mushroom duxelles, madeira and fresh thyme
“We say that our products are from our chef to your table, and this is genuinely the case”
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