The Iconic Guinness World Record Held By Gordon Ramsay

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay might be known for his aggressive TV attitude in the name of perfection, but you can't deny his incredible cooking skills. Ramsay owns a number of restaurants worldwide, and he currently holds eight Michelin stars. Although this is a major accomplishment on its own, it turns out Ramsay is also in a very exclusive club: he holds a Guinness World Record. No, it's not for how many Michelin stars Ramsay has received during his career, but it does have everything to do with his signature beef Wellington — the same iconic dish that Ramsay would also want for his last meal.

It turns out Ramsay holds the record for the largest beef Wellington ever made. The dish, which is traditionally made with a beef fillet wrapped in Parma ham and a mushroom duxelle, then baked in a puff pastry, is Ramsay's signature menu item. And in 2023, YouTube star Nick DiGiovanni recruited Ramsay to help him break the record. With a little leg work, the two were able to get their names on a Guinness World Record.

It seems that there is a Guinness World Record for everything these days — from the world's longest hot dog to the world's largest pizza — and the beef Wellington is no exception. A standard version of this dish usually weighs around three pounds, which is already pretty heavy for one meal. But Ramsay helped DiGiovanni and his team beat it, building a beef Wellington that weighed a whopping 56.79 pounds. The previously held record was about 50 pounds.

The process wasn't so easy, though. At one point, two of DiGiovanni's team members had to suit up in hazmat suits and gas masks in order to apply meat glue — which would get the multiple fillets to stick together — because it is so dangerous to breathe in due to its ability to bind proteins. Later, they had to torch the meat by hand because there was no pan large enough to fit it for a sear. Ultimately, though, the process was worth it to call themselves record holders, and Ramsay even said the beef Wellington was delicious when he finally had a chance to sample the finished product.