Quiche Lorraine is a savoury French tart with a filling of cream, eggs, and bacon, in an open pastry case. It was little known outside the French region of Lorraine until the mid-20th century. As its popularity spread, nationally and internationally, the addition of cheese became commonplace, although it has been criticised as inauthentic. It may be served hot, warm or cold.
The classic ingredients for the filling are eggs, thick cream, and ham or bacon (in strips or lardons), made into a savoury custard. Elizabeth David in her French Provincial Cooking (1960) and Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle and Julia Child in their Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) excluded cheese from their recipes for quiche Lorraine, and David in particular was scornful of cooks and manufacturers who added it. She considered they did so for reasons of cost and convenience rather than taste: a classic quiche Lorraine, with only a cream, egg and bacon filling, is “quite tricky to get right”.
David placed the responsibility for the inauthentic addition of cheese with Parisian chefs. In 1870 Jules Gouffé introduced a version to which he added Parmesan, and in 1903 Auguste Escoffier recommended lining the pastry case with bacon and strips of Gruyère before adding the cream and egg mixture. Attempts were made to restore the simplicity of the original dish: in 1901 Le Figaro printed a recipe that excluded not only cheese but also bacon, and in 1904 André Theuriet and a fellow native of Lorraine, Edmond Richardin, published another recipe that included neither bacon nor cheese, but in 1932 Marcel Boulestin, a highly influential restaurateur and writer, specified the addition of grated Gruyère, and by the 1950s the use of cheese had become commonplace as the popularity of quiche Lorraine grew. David cited a London cookery school where the students were taught to use evaporated milk and processed Cheddar for their fillings. La Mère Brazier‘s standard recipe for the dish excluded cheese, but she thought variations permissible, “replac[ing] the lardons and the ham with a layer of sliced Roquefort … or with thin slices of goose or duck liver and fresh truffle”.
Among some recent versions of the dish, Anne-Sophie Pic‘s adds Comté, and Delia Smith‘s adds both Cheddar and Parmesan. No cheese is used in the versions by Lindsey Bareham, Felicity Cloake, Alain Ducasse, Simon Hopkinson, Thomas Keller and Dan Lepard. Anne Willan distinguishes between quiche Lorraine – made without cheese – and quiche Lorraine au fromage – with sliced Gruyère placed on top of the bacon before the egg mixture is added. She also gives a recipe for quiche Lorraine aux oignons – with browned onions added to the bacon.
Ready-made quiches Lorraines sold in supermarkets in France, Britain and the US typically contain cheese – usually Emmental or similar, although British versions often contain Cheddar.
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