Quiche
Type | Tart |
---|---|
Place of origin | France |
Main ingredients | Pastry case filled with egg and cheese, meat, seafood, or vegetables |
Quiche (/ˈkiːʃ/ KEESH) is a French tart consisting of a 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]
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]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ 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.
- ^ Some recipes add cheese, but the traditional Lorrainian version does not.[12]
References[edit]
- ^ "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 - ^ "Storia origine delle torte salate". Italian Academy of Gastronomy. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Peterson, p. 153
- ^ David (2008), pp. 18 and 187
- ^ Beck et al, p. 153
- ^ a b c Beck et al, p. 155
- ^ a b Beck et al, p. 160
- ^ a b Beck et al, p. 159
- ^ a b Beck et al, p. 154
- ^ a b David (2008), p. 187
- ^ Beck et al, p. 156
- ^ Beck et al, p. 157
- ^ Montagné, p. 430
- ^ 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.