Activity: Baking/The History of...Quiche.

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In French cuisine, a quiche  is an oven-baked dish made with eggs and milk or cream in a pastry crust. Usually, the pastry shell is blind-baked before the other ingredients are added. Other ingredients such as cooked chopped meat, vegetables, or cheese are often added to the egg mixture before the quiche is baked. Quiche is generally an open pie (i.e. it does not include a pastry covering), but may include an arrangement of tomato slices or pastry off-cuts for a decorative finish. Quiche may be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, depending on local customs and personal tastes.

History

Although quiche is now a classic dish of French cuisine, the word quiche is from the German Kuchen, meaning cake. The Lorraine Franconian dialect of the German language is historically spoken in the northern third of the region, where German Kuchen, "cake", was first altered to "küche". Typical Alemannic changes unrounded the ü (/y/) and shifted the fricative "ch" (/ç/) to "sh" ([ʃ]), resulting in "kische", which in standard French orthography became spelled "quiche." The precursor of "quiche" originated in the medieval kingdom of Lotharingia. Similar dishes existed in other countries; savoury custards in pastry were known in English cuisine at least as early as the fourteenth century. Recipes for custards baked in pastry, including solid ingredients such as meat, fish and fruit baked in the custard, appear under titles such as Crustardes of flessh and Crustade, in The Forme of Cury and Harleian MSS 279 and 4016.

The well-known 'quiche Lorraine' was an open pie with a filling consisting of an egg and cream custard, which is called "migaine" in Lorraine, with smoked bacon or lardons. It was only later that cheese was added to the quiche Lorraine. 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 The bottom crust was originally made from bread dough, but that has since evolved into a short-crust or puff pastry crust that is often baked using a Springform pan.

In the North of England a Quiche Lorraine is more commonly referred to as a Bacon & egg pie and is often decorated with a chequered lattice of pastry on the top. Today, one can find many varieties of quiche, from the original quiche Lorraine, to ones with broccoli, mushrooms, ham and/or seafood (primarily shellfish). Quiche can be served as an entrée, for lunch, breakfast or an evening snack.

To this day, there is a minor German influence on the cuisine of the Lorraine region. The origin of quiche Lorraine is rural and the original quiche Lorraine had a rustic flair: 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. Consumption of quiche Lorraine is most prevalent in the southern regions of France, where the warm climate lends itself to lighter fare. The current version of quiche Lorraine served in France does not include cheese: although Americans may wish to add this, either Emmental or Gruyère. Unlike the version served in the United States, the bacon is cubed, no onions are added and the custard base is thicker.

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