Topics: Erin Patterson, Crime, Australia, News, World News, Food and Drink
A popular Australian chef who was dragged into the infamous ‘mushroom murders’ trial has been forced to issue a statement.
Nagi Maehashi has been left ‘upset’ after murderer Erin Patterson revealed she used a beef wellington recipe from one of her books to whip up her deadly lunch that killed three people (minus the death cap mushrooms, of course).
During her trial, Patterson told the court that she sourced the recipe she based the meal off from Maehashi’s cookbook RecipeTin Eats: Dinner.
For those who need a reminder of the case, on Monday (7 July), Patterson was found guilty of murdering three of her relatives and attempting to murder another by serving them up a beef wellington containing poisonous mushrooms.
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Back in July 2023, she invited her ex-husband Simon Patterson, as well as her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, to her home for lunch.
Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband Reverend Ian Wilkinson, 70, were also in attendance.
But her estranged former husband turned down the invite, as he felt ‘too uncomfortable’ given recent tensions between them.
On the day of the lunch, Erin served the beef wellington which included dried wild mushrooms, later revealed to be deadly death cap mushrooms.
All four guests fell ill and were admitted to hospital, with Don, Gail and Heather all dying from the poisoning.
Meanwhile, Ian was discharged on 22 September after weeks in an induced coma.
Following a lengthy nine week trial and six days of deliberations from a jury in Victoria’s Supreme Court, Patterson was found guilty and now faces life in prison, with her sentencing expected to be delivered at a later date.
After Patterson’s verdict was released, chef Maehashi, who boasts a whopping 1.6 million followers on Instagram, has found herself inundated with messages from the Australian media.
She decided to speak out about the situation with an Instagram story on Tuesday (8 July).
Her statement read: “Dear 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 signed off with: “Other than that, I have nothing to say and I won’t be talking to anyone. Thank you for respecting my privacy.”
It is of course important to note that Maehashi is in no way legally linked to the case at all.
Maehashi is one of Australia’s most famous food writers and is behind the popular blog RecipeTin Eats.
This subsequently led to the release of her bestselling cookbook Dinner, and on her social media accounts you’ll find a whole host of recipes including cheese scones and pea and ham soup.
