Beef Wellington is the kind of dish you pull out to impress.

It’s the showstopper at Christmas tables, the star of many a fancy dinner party, and thanks to Gordon Ramsay, a bucket-list recipe for confident home cooks.

But this week, it’s at the centre of a murder trial that’s left many Coasties speechless.

Australian woman Erin Patterson, 50, has been found guilty of murdering three of her relatives after serving them a homemade Beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms.

The meal was served during a quiet family lunch in Victoria, Australia.

Three guests later died. Two others were hospitalised.

The case has shocked both sides of the Tasman.

Not just because of the outcome, but because the dish itself is usually associated with joy and celebration.

If you’ve never had it, Beef Wellington is a labour of love.

A centre-cut beef fillet, often seared and brushed with mustard, wrapped in a layer of finely chopped mushrooms called duxelles, sometimes pâté too, all tucked inside golden puff pastry.

Slicing into it reveals pink, juicy meat, rich savoury flavour, and flaky crust.

Done right, it’s a masterpiece.

But in Patterson’s version, the mushroom layer contained one of the world’s most poisonous fungi.

Death caps are nearly impossible to identify without expert knowledge.

They grow in parts of New Zealand too, so it’s a sobering reminder to steer clear of wild mushrooms unless you’re absolutely sure.

Patterson is awaiting sentencing.

And the rest of us?

Honestly, I think I’ll just stick to Gordon Ramsay’s version and leave the wild mushrooms right where they are.

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