What do the French make of Charles III’s Coronation quiche?

The French seem somewhat perplexed by His Majesty King Charles’ choice of coronation dish. While the late Queen Elizabeth II chose Constance Spry’s now-legendary coronation chicken, the King has opted for quiche, a dish more commonly associated with France. He has even chosen a traditionally French herb – tarragon – as one of its main ingredients.

The veggie dish of spinach, broad beans and egg, will be served up at parties across the UK on May 6 – but according to French newspaper Vingt Minutes, the French are convinced quiche is “little known in England” and “is only rarely offered across the Channel”.

Yvain Rollot, who regularly serves quiche at the Table du Bon Roi Stanislas in Nancy, told the paper he wasn’t surprised by the royal household’s choice. “It shows that the quiche is world famous and that it has been exported everywhere while being regularly reinterpreted.”

Meanwhile, Michelin-starred chef Grégory Marchand, a former protégé of Jamie Oliver at Fifteen and the man behind Frenchie in London’s Covent Garden, said: “Quiche is not part of restaurant menus and I don’t think many English families consume it.” Frenchie doesn’t normally have quiche on the menu but Marchand told Vingt Minutes they may make an exception for the Coronation.

If you want to rustle up the Royal interpretation of a French classic, here’s the recipe for you to try at home.


Charles III’s Coronation quiche
Print Recipe
2 from 1 vote

Charles III’s Coronation quiche

A deep quiche with a crisp, light pastry case and delicate flavours of Spinach, Broad Beans and fresh Tarragon. Eat hot or cold with a green salad and boiled new potatoes.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Course: Main Course, Starter, Lunch
Cuisine: French
Keyword: Coronation Quiche, Charles III Coronation
Servings: 6 people

Equipment

  • 20cm flan tin

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 125 g plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 25 g cold butter diced
  • 25 g lard
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • Or 1 x 250g block of ready-made shortcrust pastry

Filling

  • 125 ml milk
  • 175 ml double cream
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
  • Salt and pepper
  • 100 g grated cheddar cheese
  • 180 g cooked spinach lightly chopped
  • 60 g cooked broad beans or soya beans

Instructions

To make the pastry…

  • Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl; add the fats and rub the mixture together using your finger tips until you get a sandy, breadcrumb like texture.
  • Add the milk a little at a time and bring the ingredients together into a dough.
  • Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 30-45 minutes
  • Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the pastry to a circle a little larger than the top of the tin and approximately 5mm thick.
  • Line the tin with the pastry, taking care not to have any holes or the mixture could leak. Cover and rest for a further 30 minutes in the fridge.
  • Preheat the oven to 190°C.
  • Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper, add baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes, before removing the greaseproof paper and baking beans.
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.

To make the filling…

  • Beat together the milk, cream, eggs, herbs and seasoning.
  • Scatter 1/2 of the grated cheese in the blind-baked base, top with the chopped spinach and beans and herbs, then pour over the liquid mixture.
  • If required gently give the mixture a delicate stir to ensure the filling is evenly dispersed but be careful not to damage the pastry case.
  • Sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until set and lightly golden.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Clearly, many French “experts” are wrong, their education is severely lacking.
    It’s very common to see numerous varieties of quiche for sale in countless bakers shops across England, and it’s probably eaten by millions of English (don’t know about Scots, Irish, or Welsh), every day.
    See: https://cooplands-bakery.co.uk/?s=quiche

    • Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s always interesting to see how dishes can travel across borders and become beloved in other countries. Our colleague, Gill is merely citing differing opinions. Hope you have a lovely day!

  2. 2 stars
    We’ve been making Quiche (and other French dishes) privately for years and I consider this choice to be ridiculous for a coronation meal. We also have made the same mistakes in the distant past. Firstly spinach contains a lot of water which adds excess liquid to the dish and wets the bottom of the pie; it needs to be “spun dry” as with green salad.

    But even then the bottom usually becomes “mushy” and has to be baked at the lowest height level. We blind-bake as suggested, remove the dried beans, cover the bottom with a film of beaten egg white, and bake again until all is dry and watertight.

    Apart from that the contents will hardly have any great taste and is certainly not a good choice for a coronation meal being produced by inexperienced British cooks for the first time.

  3. I have attended many events over the years and there is always a quiche. My preferred filling is sorrel as I always have plenty in the garden and it gives a lovely lemony taste, I sometimes add in king prawns or fish as well if making one for a lot of people.

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