Etymology The word is first attested in
Lorrain in 1605, then in
French in 1805; the first English usage — "quiche lorraine" — was recorded in 1925. The further
etymology is uncertain, but it may be related to the German '''' meaning "cake" or "tart".
History |alt=round tart with yellow filling and bacon bits on the top 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. 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 was later 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". ==Varieties==