Definition and meaning of Quiche

Quiche

A variety of tarts, with a quiche in the bottom left
Details
Type	Savoury pie
Main ingredient(s)	Custard, cheese, meat, vegetables

Quiche /ˈkiːʃ/ KEESH is a savory, open-faced pastry crust dish with a filling of savory custard with cheese, meat or vegetables.

  Overview

  Etymology

  Quiches

The word quiche comes from French, which ultimately borrowed the word from Lorraine Franconian Küeche ‘cake’ (cf. German Kuchen).^[1] Central Franconian typically unrounded the ü (/y/) and shifted the fricative "ch" (/ç/) to "sh" ([ʃ]), resulting in "kishe", which in standard French spelling gives "quiche."^[2]

  History

Today, quiche is considered as typically French. However, savoury custards in pastry were known in English cuisine at least as early as the fourteenth century. Recipes for custards baked in pastry containing meat, fish and fruit are referred to Crustardes of flessh and Crustade in the fourteenth-century The Forme of Cury^[3] and in fifteenth-century cookbooks as well.^[4]

  Varieties

Quiche has a pastry crust and a filling of eggs and milk or cream which, when baked, become a custard.

  Quiche lorraine

  Quiche lorraine

Quiche lorraine is a popular variant that was originally an open pie with a filling of custard with smoked bacon or lardons. It was only later that cheese was added to the quiche lorraine.^[5] The addition of Gruyère cheese makes a quiche au gruyère or a quiche vosgienne. The 'quiche alsacienne' is similar to the 'quiche lorraine', though onions are added to the recipe. The bottom crust was originally made from bread dough,^{[citation needed]} but that has since evolved into a short-crust or puff pastry crust that is often baked using a springform pan.

The origin of quiche lorraine is rural and the original quiche lorraine had a rustic style: it was cooked in a cast-iron pan and the pastry edges were not crimped. Today, quiche lorraine is served throughout France and has a modern look with a crimped pastry crust. In France, the version is unlike that served in the United States; the bacon is cubed, no onions are added and the custard base is thicker.^[6]

  Other varieties

  Quiche with spinach

There are many variants of quiche, including a wide variety of ingredients. Variants may be named descriptively, often in French, e.g. quiche au fromage (quiche with cheese) and quiche aux champignons (quiche with mushrooms) or conventionally: florentine (spinach); provençale (tomatoes); and so on.

  Cultural references

Bruce Feirstein's 1982 bestseller Real Men Don't Eat Quiche attempts to humorously typecast quiche as a stereotypically feminine food in the context of American culture.^{[citation needed]}

  See also

Food portal

• French cuisine
• Timballo

  References

• "Definition of quiche by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia". Thefreedictionary.com. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quiche. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
• "Quiche Origins, History & Recipes". Foodreference.com. http://www.foodreference.com/html/artquiche.html. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 

  Further reading

• Ange, E., & Aratow, P. (2005). La bonne cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange: the original companion for French home cooking. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press.
• Nathan, J. (2010). Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: my search for Jewish cooking in France. New York: Alfred A. Knopf

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Quiches

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Quiche

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Quiche

• "A Short History of French Cuisine". Preferredconsumer.com. http://www.preferredconsumer.com/food_drink/articles/french_food.html. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
• "French Food Culture and Recipes". France-property-and-information.com. http://www.france-property-and-information.com/french_food.htm. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
• French Food and Cook. "French Food and Cook : French Quiches". Ffcook.com. http://www.ffcook.com/pages/moquichecrust.htm. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
• "How to Make Easy Quiche Lorraine Recipe". Onepaycheckatatime.com. 2007-07-26. http://www.onepaycheckatatime.com/frugalpedia/Simple-Quiche-Lorraine-Recipe.aspx. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
• "Recipe - Classic Quiche Lorraine". Cooks.com. http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1826,154189-253203,00.html. Retrieved 2012-03-17.