King Charles III and the Queen Consort, Camilla have chosen the humble quiche as the celebratory dish for the Coronation taking place this Saturday.
It’s a deep quiche with a crisp, light pastry case, with flavours of Spinach, Broad Beans and fresh Tarragon. The quiche can be enjoyed hot or cold with boiled new potatoes and green salad.
Former Chef to the British Royal family Darren McGrady wrote on Twitter: “It’s no surprise that King Charles III has shared the Coronation Quiche to celebrate his Coronation.
“His mother, the late Queen, loved chocolate but the King loves anything with eggs and cheese.
“I made this for him many times, especially with the salmon he caught in the river Dee.”
This quiche will feature at the Big Lunch, a series of community lunches taking place across the UK and beyond to raise money for charity while celebrating the coronation.
Camilla Queen Consort has been patron of the Big Lunch initiative since 2013, and has attended lunches across the UK and the world, including Barbados and Ghana.
In addition, three official recipes have been revealed by Buckingham Palace for the celebrations and there’s no coronation chicken in sight.
Ken Hom’s Coronation Roast Rack of Lamb with an Asian-style Marinade, Nadiya Hussain’s Coronation Aubergine, and Adam Handlings Strawberry and Ginger Trifle.
The late Queen Elizabeth II chose the infamous Coronation Chicken which was invented by culinary school Le Cordan Bleu London for her 1953 coronation luncheon.
Charles will be hoping the Coronation Quiche will prove equally as popular as the late queens Indian-inspired dish.
The majority of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation menu was inspired by French heritage, a turtle soup to start which later became Britain’s national soup.
How things have changed.
A dish named ‘delices de soles Prince Charles’ followed the soup referencing to the heir and the stability of the monarchy.
It consisted of lamb cooked à la Windsor with green beans, asparagus, and later strawberries all presumably home grown.
But why quiche?
Perhaps to demonstrate the future kings passion for agriculture, environmentalism, and commitment to organic farming.
Regardless the humble quiche is a traditionally French dish that is said to have originated from Germany, coming from the German word ‘kuchen’ meaning cake.
Despite being hailed as a French creation, recipes using eggs and cream were used in England during medieval times, and became a post war staple in the UK.
Regardless of its origins, the humble Quiche is being given a new lease of life with royal approval from a future monarch.
Long live the quiche.
Coronation Quiche Ingredients
The Coronation Quiche recipe, created by royal chef Mark Flanagan, serves six and requires one 20cm Flan Tin.
Ingredients for the Pastry: 125g plain flour, pinch of salt, 25g cold butter (diced), 25g lard, two tablespoons milk, or, to keep it simple, one x 250g block of ready-made shortcrust pastry.
Ingredients for the Filling: 125ml milk, 175ml double cream, two medium eggs, one tablespoon of fresh chopped tarragon, salt and pepper, 100g grated cheese, 180g cooked spinach lightly chopped, and 60g cooked broad beans or soya beans.
Coronation Quiche Method
- Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl; add butter and lard rubbing the mixture together using your fingertips 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.
- Beat together the milk, cream, eggs, herbs and seasoning.
- Scatter half of the grated cheese in the blind-baked base, top with the chopped spinach and beans and herbs, then pour over the liquid mixture.
- Gently give the mixture a delicate stir to ensure the filling is evenly dispersed being careful not to damage the pastry case.
- Sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Place into the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes until set and lightly golden.
