Quiche ( ) is a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
tart consisting of
pastry crust filled with savoury
custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...
and pieces of
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
,
meat
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
,
seafood
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
or
vegetables. A well-known variant is
quiche Lorraine, which includes
lardons or
bacon
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
. Quiche may be served hot, warm or cold.
Overview
Etymology
The word is first attested in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
in 1805, and in 1605 in
Lorrain patois. The first English usage—"quiche Lorraine"—was recorded in 1925. The further etymology is uncertain but it may be related to the German ' meaning "cake" or "tart".
History

Quiche is considered a French dish; however, using eggs and cream in pastry was practised in
English cuisine at least as early as the 14th century and
Italian cuisine at least as early as the 13th century. Recipes for eggs and cream baked in pastry containing meat, fish and fruit are referred to ''Crustardes of flesh'' and ''Crustade'' in the 14th-century ''
The Forme of Cury'' and in 15th-century cookbooks, such as the Italian '.
Varieties
A quiche usually has a pastry crust and a filling of eggs and milk and/or cream. It may be made with vegetables, meat or seafood, and be served hot, warm or cold. Types of quiche include:
In her ''
French Country Cooking'' (1951),
Elizabeth David gives a recipe for a ''quiche aux pommes de terre'', in which the case is made not from
shortcrust but from mashed potato, flour and butter; the filling is cream, Gruyère and garlic.
[David (1999), p. 285]
Gallery
Notes
References
Sources
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See also
*
Pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...
*
Bacon and egg pie
*
List of pies, tarts and flans
External links
{{Authority control
Savoury pies
French cuisine
Egg dishes