Last Christmas, we heard how Gen Z were killing off the traditional turkey feast, with many opting for spag bol, Indian takeaways and tiramisu on the big day instead.
This year it seems a different dish is taking center stage: The Beef Wellington.
Charlie Bingham recently caused a stir when he launched a £30 ready meal version of the classic British meal in Waitrose.
However, he has well and truly been topped by M&S and Tom Kerridge who are now selling one for an eye-watering £195 and it’s been hailed as the ‘ultimate showstopper’ for Christmas dinner.
Described as a ‘whopper of a Wellington’, the dish serves six people and features portobello mushrooms, chicken mousse duxelles and a hint of black truffle parceled up inside an all-butter hot water crust pastry, served with a beef and red wine gravy.
Shoppers have been sharing their thoughts on the dish on Reddit, with many left flabbergasted by the price.
A user known as u/BocaSeniors!sM said: ‘There’s overspending at Christmas, then there’s f***ing that!!’
While u/Heavy-Schidna-3472 wrote: ‘Lol, that’s just ridiculous.’
u/veeb did the math claiming it’s ‘£32.50 per serving/person’ which they thought was ‘insane’.
And u/vicariousgluten agreed it would only be ‘justifiable’ if ‘it included Tom Kerridge to do the cooking and cleaning up’.
Similarly, u/hhfugrr3 commented: ‘That’s just stupid. I’d pay that in a restaurant, but not for a cook-at-home ready meal.’
A Reddit user who claimed to be a butcher also shared their take, with u/Conquano saying: ‘As a butcher I find this absolutely ridiculous, but if someone has the available/expendable income for such fancy things and that’s the way they want to spend their money then I’m not going to judge.’
However, not everyone was flabbergasted by the price, with some pointing out that the cost of meat has risen and a beef fillet doesn’t come cheap.
u/TheBaronNash posted: ‘A lot of people here obviously haven’t ever purchased a whole beef fillet.
‘I did a welly for new years a few years back and the beef alone was £87 from the butcher, plus easily £15-£20 in additional ingredients. With prep time, delivery and the M&S surcharge this is a totally expected price (provided it’s appropriately sized). It’s not a cheap dish to make properly.’
And u/weeksy79 added: ‘Blimey, a lot of people not exposed to how the other half live. Worked at a nice farm shop over a decade ago, people would spend £800+ on their Xmas shop.’
An M&S spokesperson told Metro: ‘The M&S Collection Tom Kerridge Beef Wellington has been a big hit with customers – it’s selling very well and we only have a few left on our Christmas Food To Order page.
‘Serving six people and weighing over 2kg, the hand-butchered British beef fillet is matured over 17 days and created as it would be in a restaurant – it’s the absolute best quality Wellington we’ve ever created.’
This comes after another expensive Christmas item caused a stir online. Harrods recently launched a £250 Food Halls advent calendar for the festive season and it’s fair to say that the contents did not impress everyone.
TikTok user @gracebooth97 shared an unboxing on the video app and became progressively more frustrated with what was behind each door.
She had high hopes for the Food Halls one, which promises a ‘selection of sweet and savoury treats to unveil each day’ alongside some ‘keep-forever Harrods pieces’.
However, instead of an array of unique and quirky things to try, Grace was disappointed to discover the calendar predominantly contained chocolate and tea.
‘You’re having me on, I feel like I’m being pranked,’ she said.
‘If I’m getting something from the Food Hall, I want variety, not just chocolate. This isn’t a tea and chocolate advent calendar… Give me some mustard, give me something fun, fresh, and different.’
In the comments many agreed with her, with some branding the calendar ‘a scam’, ‘confusing’ and ‘underwhelming’.
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