Royals in the Kitchen: Beef Wellington

Beef Welllington is the name given to a fillet of rare-roasted beef covered with pâté de foie gras or mushroom paste, encased in puff pastry, and baked. Many spices may be added to enhance the flavour; some examples are curry, allspice, any grilling mix or ginger.
The origin of the name is unclear. One theory is that beef Wellington is named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Some have suggested this was due to his love of a dish of beef, truffles, mushrooms, Madeira wine, and pâté cooked in pastry, but there is no evidence to say for sure. Other accounts simply credit the name to a patriotic chef wanting to give an English name to a variation on the French filet de bœuf en croûte during a period when England was often at odds with France. Still another theory is that the dish is not named after the Duke himself, but rather that the finished joint was thought to resemble one of the brown shiny military boots which were named after him .
"Wellington" is sometimes informally used to describe other dishes in which meat is baked in a puff pastry; the most common variations are sausage Wellington and salmon Wellington.

The Duke of Wellington (1 May, 1769 – 14 September, 1852) was a British soldier and politician, born in Ireland, and sometimes called "the Iron Duke". He was a very successful military leader, and is especially remembered for defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on 1815. He later became Prime Minister (1828-34).