P
French · Lorraine
Quiche (Quiche Lorraine and Derivatives)
A savoury custard — eggs and cream — set in a blind-baked pastry shell with a filling of bacon, cheese, vegetables, or fish. Quiche is an exercise in custard calibration: the ratio of egg to cream, the baking temperature, and the precise moment of removal are where the dish lives or dies. A correctly baked quiche trembles when nudged at the edge — it does not slosh, and it does not crack. It yields to a knife like silk set in pastry.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the pâte brisée shell
1
pâte brisée shell, blind-baked to pale golden
fully baked, not par-baked; blind-baked and still warm when filled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the custard
3
large eggs
whisked with cream until homogeneous — do not aerate
Your own market
300 ml
heavy cream
minimum 35% fat
Your own market
For the filling
150 g
lardons
cut 1 cm dice from unsmoked or smoked streaky bacon slab; blanched 2 minutes in boiling water, then sautéed until golden
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
AOC Gruyère, aged minimum 6 months
finely grated
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
to taste
fine salt
season after tasting — lardons, cheese, and cream all carry salt
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add the lardons and blanch for 2 minutes to remove excess salt. Drain and pat dry. Set a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the lardons until golden and the fat has rendered. The lardons are ready when they carry colour and the fat in the pan is clear and fragrant.
2
In a bowl, whisk the eggs and cream together until the mixture is fully homogeneous. Do not whisk to aeration — the surface should be flat, not frothy. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any unincorporated egg white strands. Taste, and season with salt only as needed, accounting for the salt carried by the lardons, cheese, and cream.
3
Place the blind-baked, still-warm pastry shell on a baking sheet. Scatter the sautéed lardons and the finely grated Gruyère evenly across the base. Pour the custard slowly over the filling to within 3–4 mm of the rim — the custard will rise slightly before settling and will spill if over-filled. The surface should be flat and free of bubbles.
4
Slide the quiche into an oven set to 160–170 °C. Bake low and slow. During baking, monitor the surface: correctly developing custard is flat, matte, and pale cream, with perhaps a faint colour where custard meets pastry. No bubbles, no cracks, no mottling. A slightly scorched milk smell signals the oven is too hot and the custard is curdling at the base — reduce temperature immediately. The quiche smells done when the aroma shifts from raw egg to a warm, settled custard.
5
This is where the dish lives or dies. Open the oven and tap the tin gently. The entire quiche should show a 5 cm area of cohesive tremble at the centre — unified movement, not sloshing. The edges must be set; only the central zone trembles. If the entire quiche moves as liquid, return it to the oven. If it shows no movement whatsoever, it is overcooked. Remove at the tremble: carryover heat will finish the centre.
6
Rest the quiche on a wire rack for 20 minutes before cutting. To slice, draw a sharp knife through the custard in a single, clean stroke. The blade should pass through without the custard tearing, smearing, or collapsing. If the custard flows on cutting, it was under-baked. If it crumbles, it was over-baked. A correctly rested, correctly baked quiche yields like silk set in pastry.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — AOC Gruyère aged 18 months or more, with full propionic acid fermentation character; lardons hand-cut from a premium unsmoked slab; eggs from heritage-breed hens; pâte brisée made with 84% fat unsalted butter, rested overnight.
02
Estate — AOC Gruyère aged minimum 6 months; unsmoked or smoked streaky bacon slab of known provenance, blanched and sautéed to order; free-range eggs; heavy cream at 35% fat or above; pâte brisée made to order the day of baking.
03
Market — Good-quality block Gruyère (not pre-grated); packaged lardons blanched before use; standard free-range eggs; good heavy cream; a reliable ready-made shortcrust blind-baked in the home kitchen.
04
House — Mass-produced Gruyère or Emmental substitute; packaged pre-cut lardons used without blanching; any cream available; shop-bought pastry case. The custard calibration still applies and will determine the result more than any ingredient shortcut.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Surface during baking is flat, matte, and pale cream with no bubbles, no cracks, and no mottling — raised edges, a puffed centre, or radial cracks indicate over-baking.
◇Smell. A warm, settled custard aroma — rendered bacon, cream, melting cheese — signals correct progress; a scorched milk smell indicates the oven is too hot and the custard is curdling at the base.
◇Sight. The jiggle test: a 5 cm zone of cohesive, unified tremble at the centre with set edges — the quiche neither sloshes as liquid nor sits entirely still.
◇Sight. The cut cross-section, once rested and sliced cold, shows a smooth, uniform custard of consistent colour and density from base to top; the pastry shell is golden and dry, distinct from the custard, with no grey or soggy base; any small white granules in the custard indicate over-baking or excessive heat.
◇Touch. A rested, correctly set quiche yields to a knife cleanly — the blade passes through without the custard tearing, smearing, or collapsing; custard that flows was under-baked; custard that crumbles was over-baked.
◇Where it lives or dies. The jiggle test at the oven door — a 5 cm zone of cohesive tremble at the centre, edges set, neither sloshing nor still — is the sole reliable measure of a custard that has not been pierced, and the moment of removal decides everything the dish becomes.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Charles Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie
Domaine Charles Joguet · Chinon
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Wine
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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