Nagi Maehashi, the cook behind RecipeTin Eats, says it is “upsetting” to have become “entangled in a tragic situation” after Erin Patterson told her triple murder trial she used the beef wellington recipe for the fateful lunch.
In a post to Instagram on Tuesday, Maehashi requested that journalists of Australia “please stop calling and emailing and texting and DM’ing me about the Erin Patterson case”.
“It is of course upsetting to learn that one of my recipes – possibly the one I’ve spent more hours perfecting than any other – something I created to bring joy and happiness, is entangled in a tragic situation,” she wrote on Instagram yesterday.
“Other than that, I have nothing to say and I won’t be talking to anyone.
“Thank you for respecting my privacy.
During the trial, Patterson said she made multiple changes to the RecipeTin Eats recipe she said she used to prepare the fatal beef wellington lunch in May 2023.
The Victorian woman told the court during the trial she had never made the dish before, and her changes were mostly due to her not being able to source a larger “log” of steak, as specified in the recipe, and having to instead buy individual steaks.
This meant she needed more mushrooms for a duxelles, and more pastry, Patterson told the court.
The triple murder case hinged on whether Patterson intended to add the toxic ingredient of death cap mushrooms, or whether it was a tragic accident, as the defence argued.
On Monday, Patterson was found guilty of murdering three relatives – Don and Gail Patterson, and Heather Wilkinson – and attempting to murder a fourth, Ian Wilkinson.
She had pleaded not guilty to all charges and it was not clear yet whether she was planning to appeal.
On her website, Maehashi, who was born in Japan and raised in Australia, was described as the “voice, cook, photographer and videographer behind RecipeTin Eats”.
Before launching RecipeTin Eats in May 2014, the Sydney-based chef and author spent 16 years working in the corporate finance sector.
The recipe is described on Maehashi’s website as “incredibly juicy, edge-to-edge rose pink beef encased in pastry boasting a flawlessly crispy base”. It is only available in her debut cookbook, Dinner.
