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Quiche

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Quiche (disambiguation). For other uses of "Quiché", see Kʼicheʼ (disambiguation).

Quiche
A typical quiche
TypeTart
Place of origin France
Main ingredientsPastry case filled with egg and cheese, meat, seafood, or vegetables

Quiche (/ˈkiːʃ/ KEESH) is a French tart consisting of pastry crust filled with savoury custard and pieces of cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. A well-known variant is quiche lorraine, which includes lardons or bacon. Quiche may be served hot, warm or cold.

Overview[edit]

Etymology[edit]

The word is first attested in French 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 Kuchen meaning "cake" or "tart".[1]

History[edit]

round tart with yellow filling and bacon bits on the top
Quiche lorraine

Quiche is a French dish originating from the eastern part of the country; however, using eggs and cream in pastry has a wider history. It was practised in Italian cuisine at least as early as the 13th century.[2] 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 The Forme of Cury[3] and in 15th-century cookbooks, such as the Italian Libro de arte coquinaria.[4]

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 [he had] ever tasted". He wrote that by the 1980s, American quiches had begun to include ingredients he found "bizarre and unpleasant", such as broccoli,[n 1] and that he regarded Bruce Feirstein's satirical book Real Men Don't Eat Quiche (1982) as the "final humiliation" of the dish, such that "[a] rugged and honest country dish had become a symbol of effete snobbery.[5]

Varieties[edit]

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.[6][7] Types of quiches include:

Name Main ingredients Ref
Quiche au Camembert Camembert cheese, cream, eggs [8]
Quiche aux champignons Mushrooms, cream, eggs [9]
Quiche aux endives Chicory, cream, eggs, cheese [10]
Quiche aux épinards Spinach, cream, eggs [9]
Quiche au fromage de Gruyère Gruyère cheese, cream, eggs, bacon [11]
Quiche aux fromage blanc Cream cheese, cream, eggs, bacon [12]
Quiche aux fruits de mer Shrimp, crab or lobster, cream, eggs [13]
Quiche aux oignons Onions, cream, eggs, cheese [14]
Quiche aux poireaux Leeks, cream, eggs, cheese [10]
Quiche au Roquefort Roquefort cheese, cream, eggs [8]
Quiche comtoise Comté cheese, cream, eggs, smoked bacon [15]
Quiche lorraine Cream, eggs, bacon[n 2] [11]
Quiche niçoise, à la tomate Anchovies, olives, tomatoes, eggs, Parmesan cheese [8]

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 pastry but from mashed potato, flour and butter; the filling is cream, Gruyère and garlic.[16]

Gallery[edit]

Picture of a round, open tart with dark filling
Salmon and spinach quiche
slice of quiche with light brown filling
Leek and mushroom quiche
Slices of a quiche with a green and yellow fillings
Spinach quiche
Three small individual quiches with mushrooms and pale custard filling
Individual quiches

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Peterson's noting his aversion to broccoli echoed earlier remarks by former President George H. W. Bush, who too notably did not like the vegetable.
  2. ^ Some recipes add cheese, but the traditional Lorrainian version does not.[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "quiche". Oxford English Dictionary. OUP. 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
    - "Quiche", Centre Nationale de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales. Accessed 12 February 2015. This source also notes the first reference to 1805, in J.-J. Lionnois, Hist. des villes vieille et neuve de Nancy..., Nancy, t. 1, p. 80
  2. ^ "Storia origine delle torte salate". Italian Academy of Gastronomy. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  3. ^ Hieatt, Constance; Butler, Sharon (1985). Curye on Inglysch: English culinary manuscripts of the fourteenth century (including the forme of cury. SS. Vol. 8. London: EETS.
  4. ^ "Ancient Italian Cookbook" (PDF). Italophiles. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2019. Austin, Thomas, ed. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books. London, EETS OS 91, 1888, repr. 1964.
  5. ^ Peterson, p. 153
  6. ^ David (2008), pp. 18 and 187
  7. ^ Beck et al, p. 153
  8. ^ a b c Beck et al, p. 155
  9. ^ a b Beck et al, p. 160
  10. ^ a b Beck et al, p. 159
  11. ^ a b Beck et al, p. 154
  12. ^ a b David (2008), p. 187
  13. ^ Beck et al, p. 156
  14. ^ Beck et al, p. 157
  15. ^ Montagné, p. 430
  16. ^ David (1999), p. 285

Sources[edit]

  • Beck, Simone; Louisette Bertholle; Julia Child (2012) [1961]. Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One. London: Particular. ISBN 978-0-241-95339-6.
  • David, Elizabeth (1999) [1950, 1951, 1955]. Elizabeth David Classics – Mediterranean Food; French Country Cooking; Summer Food (second ed.). London: Grub Street. ISBN 1-902304-27-6.
  • David, Elizabeth (2008) [1960]. French Provincial Cooking. London: Folio Society. OCLC 809349711.
  • Montagné, Prosper (1976). Larousse gastronomique. London: Hamlyn. OCLC 1285641881.
  • Peterson, James (2002). Glorious French Food: A Fresh Approach to the Classics. New York: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-44276-9.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Quiches.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Quiche.
Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on
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