The crowning of the UK's King Charles III and Queen Camilla has been marked with the creation of a "coronation quiche" – but in France's Lorraine region, the historic cradle of the quiche, purists are offended. They consider the term badly chosen, and consider the new dish more of a "salty tart."

Charles chose the recipe personally for this vegetarian dish, which consists of spinach, broad beans and tarragon. It's an inexpensive and simple dish to cook, which "adapts easily to different tastes and preferences," says the British royal family.

However, the term quiche is not appropriate, insists Evelyne Muller-Derveaux – president of the Confrérie de la Quiche Lorraine, or Brotherhood of the Quiche Lorraine.

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"They did not speak of 'quiche Lorraine,'" she admitted. "But etymologically, when we use the word 'quiche' it automatically implies that it is from Lorraine, since the word 'quiche' is a word from Lorraine. If we push the reasoning, to speak of 'quiche lorraine' is therefore almost a pleonasm" – a redundant repetition.

"They called it quiche, but I would rather call it a salty tart," she continued. "We may be a little demanding, but that's normal, we defend a product."

What's in a quiche Lorraine?

Immutable ingredients of a good quiche Lorraine include shortcrust pastry, eggs, cream, perhaps with a little nutmeg for the adventurous, and with bacon bits placed on the pastry. It does not include cheese. 

The coronation quiche served on Saturday will therefore ultimately only be a distant cousin of the quiche Lorraine – the mother of all quiches whose origins date back to around 1540.

Coincidentally, that means the dish appeared during the reign of another Charles III – the Duke of Lorraine. Muller-Derveaux says it was a time of peace and prosperity in the region.

Her quiche brotherhood, which aims to highlight this emblematic dish and to make the region known and loved, is of a rather younger vintage. It was recreated in 2015, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Fête de la Quiche – a 1970s party with parades of floats and the election of a 'Miss Quiche.'

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