Quiche Lorraine

Quiche lorraine or simply known as quiche, is a classic French dish that can be found all over the world, even in the humble city of Tainan.  While many Taiwanese folk are still unfamiliar as to what is quiche, this famous pastry is starting to win the hearts and appetites of food lovers all over Taiwan. 

It originated in the 16th century, from the northern province of Lorraine in France, sharing the border with Germany.  Thus while the word quiche comes from French, it actually is borrowed from the German word, kuchen, which means cake albeit a savory one.  Originally, quiche lorraine was a rural dish and was cooked in a cast-iron pan where the pastry edges were not crimped or folded. While quiche is considered to be a staple in French cuisine, there are variations in other countries.  In northern England, quiche is known as bacon and egg pie, with a checkered pattern of pastry on the top.

Essentially, a quiche is a savory pastry crust dish with an open face. The filling is comprised of eggs and cream, which becomes a custard when baked for roughly half an hour.  Quite often, further ingredients make up the rest of the filling, such as meat or vegetables. Traditionally, quiche lorraine is also comprised of bacon and much later on cheese, but there are other popular varieties such as spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes or tuna. 

Generally, quiche is eaten as a light meal with a fresh salad, bread and white wine or as a heavy appetiser to a full course meal. And what a delicious appetiser it makes! The combination of baked pastry with egg, cheese and bacon is certainly going to get your mouth to start watering, especially when you cut out your first bite, as the mixture of steam and aroma waft out from within the quiche, almost as if to come out and wish you “bon appetit!” I can confidently say that once you have tried quiche once, there will be a second and third time and so forth.