Every royal occasion comes with its own unique recipe. To celebrate the ascension to the throne of Charles III, he wants Brits to tuck into a quiche.
ADVERTISEMENTAhead of the coronation of King Charles III in the UK next month, the British Royal Family wants everyone to get a slice of the action.
Continuing a tradition of launching a tie-in recipe with every major royal occasion, Charles’ coronation has its own dish for the public to chow down on as he ascends to his golden throne. Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort have decided the perfect dish to celebrate their big day will be… the coronation quiche.
The eggy tart (the royal quiche, not any member of the associated family) has been chosen by the King and Queen Consort with a recipe by royal chef Mark Flanagan. It’s recommended as the centrepiece of any coronation parties held across the nation.
The palace has released a recipe and video to help people make the quiche, which features cheddar cheese, spinach and tarragon. While the original recipe does include lard, they’ve noted that vegetarians can adapt it to suit their tastes.
The inspiration behind the coronation quiche is to create a dish that can be enjoyed widely across the UK, and its versatility of being served hot or cold means that home cooks won't have to worry about rushing around an oven during the ceremony.
This isn’t the first royal occasion to feature a tie-in dish. Just last year, Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee was celebrated with the Platinum Pudding, a lemon swiss roll and amaretti trifle.
But for anyone who’s found themselves in the sandwich aisle of a British shop will know, there will always be one coronation dish that stands head and shoulders above the others. Coronation chicken, invented to celebrate the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is the true king of the bougie buffet.
Originally named “Poulet Reine Elizabeth” and likely inspired by George V’s jubilee chicken in 1935, coronation chicken combines chicken, mayonnaise, curry powder, dried apricots and almonds.
While Charles’ coronation quiche highlights the best of British produce, coronation chicken took inspiration from the kitchen of a typical 50s household with a nod to the wider Commonwealth through the use of curry powder. Much like the new quiche, it could also be prepared in advance for hungry partiers come coronation day.
It’s hardly sophisticated by today’s dining standards, and the imperial associations can make me a little queasy, but you can’t beat a good coronation chicken as one of the mightiest sandwich fillers in the nation, 70 years later.
If you’d like to try the coronation quiche, here’s the official recipe:
x1 20cm Flan Tin
Serves 6
Ingredients
Pastry
- 125g plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 25g cold butter, diced
- 25g lard
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Or 1 x 250g block of ready-made shortcrust pastry
Filling
- 125ml milk
- 175ml double cream
- 2 medium eggs
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon,
- Salt and pepper
- 100g grated cheddar cheese,
- 180g cooked spinach, lightly chopped
- 60g cooked broad beans or soya beans
Method
- 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.
- 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.
