Quiche
Quiche is a French tart consisting of a pastry crust filled with savory 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
Etymology
The word is first attested in Lorrain in 1605, then in French in 1805; 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".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. There have been other local medieval preparations in Central Europe, from the east of France to Austria, that resemble quiche. In 1586, a quiche like dish was served at a dinner for Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. The 19th century noun Quiche was later 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 ever tasted". He wrote that, by the 1980s, American quiches had begun to include ingredients he found "bizarre and unpleasant", such as broccoli, and that he regarded Bruce Feirstein's satirical book Real Men Don't Eat Quiche as the "final humiliation" of the dish, such that " rugged and honest country dish had become a symbol of effete snobbery".
Varieties
A quiche usually has a pastry crust and a filling of eggs with either milk, cream, or both. It may be made with vegetables, meat or seafood, and be served hot, warm or cold. Types of quiches include:| Name | Main ingredients | Ref |
| Quiche au Camembert | Camembert cheese, cream, eggs | |
| Quiche aux champignons | Mushrooms, cream, eggs | |
| Quiche aux endives | Chicory, cream, eggs, cheese | |
| Quiche aux épinards | Spinach, cream, eggs | |
| Quiche au fromage de Gruyère | Gruyère cheese, cream, eggs, bacon | |
| Quiche aux fromage blanc | Cream cheese, cream, eggs, bacon | |
| Quiche aux fruits de mer | Shrimp, crab or lobster, cream, eggs | |
| Quiche aux oignons | Onions, cream, eggs, cheese | |
| Quiche aux poireaux | Leeks, cream, eggs, cheese | |
| Quiche au Roquefort | Roquefort cheese, cream, eggs | |
| Quiche comtoise | Comté cheese, cream, eggs, smoked bacon | |
| Quiche Lorraine | Cream, eggs, bacon | |
| Quiche niçoise, à la tomate | Anchovies, olives, tomatoes, eggs, Parmesan cheese |
In her French Country Cooking, 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.