Quiche

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.

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".

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. As 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 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 [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, 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".

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 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.

Salmon and spinach quiche

Leek and mushroom quiche

Spinach quiche

Individual quiches

• Pie
• Bacon and egg pie
• List of pies, tarts and flans

• 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.