Quiche ( ) is a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with ...

consisting of a pastry crust filled with savoury

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...

and pieces of

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range 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 prod ...

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

s. A well-known variant is

quiche lorraine Quiche Lorraine is a savoury French tart with a filling of cream, eggs, and bacon or ham, in an open pastry case. It was little known outside the French region of Lorraine until the mid-20th century. As its popularity spread, nationally and inter ...

, which includes

lardon A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by thre ...

s or

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

. Quiche may be served hot, warm or cold.

Overview

Etymology

The word is first attested in

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

Recipes for eggs and cream baked in pastry containing meat, fish and fruit are referred to as ''Crustardes of flesh'' and ''Crustade'' in the 14th-century, English Cookbook, ''

The Forme of Cury ''The Forme of Cury'' (''The Method of Cooking'', from Old French , 'cookery') is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes. Although the original manuscript is lost, the text appears in nine manuscripts, the most famou ...

.'' As there have been other local medieval preparations in Central Europe, from the east of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, that resemble quiche. In 1586, a quiche like dish was served at a dinner for

Charles III, Duke of Lorraine Charles III (18 February 1543 – 14 May 1608), known as ''the Great'', was Duke of Lorraine from 1545 until his death. Life He was the eldest surviving son of Francis I, Duke of Lorraine, and Christina of Denmark. In 1545, his father died, a ...

. The 19th century noun Quiche later being given to a French dish originating from the eastern part of the country. It may derive from an older preparation called ''féouse'' typical in the city of Nancy in the 16th century. The early versions of quiche were made of bread dough but today shortcrust and puff pastry are used. The American writer and cookery teacher James Peterson recorded first encountering quiche in the late 1960s and being "convinced it was the most sophisticated and delicious thing

e had E, or e, is the fifth Letter (alphabet), letter and the second vowel#Written vowels, vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others wo ...

ever tasted". He wrote that, by the 1980s, American quiches had begun to include ingredients he found "bizarre and unpleasant", such as

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

, and that he regarded

Bruce Feirstein Bruce Feirstein (born 1956) is an American screenwriter and humorist, best known for his contributions to the James Bond series and his best-selling humor books, including '' Real Men Don't Eat Quiche'' and ''Nice Guys Sleep Alone''. ''Real Men D ...

's satirical book ''

Real Men Don't Eat Quiche ''Real Men Don't Eat Quiche'' is a best-selling tongue-in-cheek book satirizing stereotypes of masculinity by the American screenwriter and humorist Bruce Feirstein, published in 1982 (). The title alludes to the gender associations of quiche ...

'' (1982) as the "final humiliation" of the dish, such that " rugged and honest country dish had become a symbol of effete snobbery".Peterson, p. 153

Varieties

A quiche usually has a pastry crust and a filling of eggs with milk or cream or both. It may be made with vegetables, meat or seafood, and be served hot, warm or cold. Types of quiches include: In her '' French Country Cooking'' (1951),

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...

gives a recipe for a ''quiche aux pommes de terre'', in which the case is made not from

shortcrust pastry Shortcrust is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart, quiche, pie, or (in the British English sense) flan. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche, lemon meringue or chicken pie. ...

but from mashed potato, flour and butter; the filling is cream, Gruyère and garlic.David (1999), p. 285

Overview

Etymology

History

Varieties

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

Sources

External links