Let them eat quiche
Coronation quiche for King Charles III isn’t loved by all his subjects; new take on Coronation chicken from last coronation
King Edward VII served coˆ telettes de be´ cassines a` la Souvaroff (snipe chops) at his coronation in 1902, Queen Elizabeth II chose Coronation Chicken, and King Charles III announced he will mark the historical day with — a quiche.
Buckingham Palace released the recipe for Charles and Camilla’s coronation dish last month, with the Guardian reporting the royals and their royal chef Mark Flanagan decided on a quiche because it’s a convenient “sharing” dish, can be served hot or cold, is not too complicated to make and can easily be adapted to different tastes and dietary requirements.
The BBC reported that the dish also aligns with Charles’ alleged affinity for eggs and cheese, and the broad beans and tarragon are likely a nod to his commitment to organic and sustainable agriculture.
However, the coronation quiche has not quite hit the taste buds of royalists, as people on social media say the signature dish lacks some pomp and circumstance.
One person commented on Twitter: “It’s probably the biggest day of your life, you’re about to be made King, you wanna have a good meal to celebrate it. So what do you pick? The full works? A good pudding? No, a QUICHE! We’re doomed.”
Another tweet reads: “This is the lamest thing I’ve ever heard. Imagine having 70+ years to think about it and choosing QUICHE.”
Seventy years ago, Elizabeth II marked her ascension to the throne with chicken in curry cream sauce —
Poulet Reine Elizabeth — more commonly known as Coronation Chicken.
The chicken dish was created by the former principal of Le Cordon Bleu London culinary school, Rosemary Hume, and her students.
The school’s website says: “The ingredients used were remarkable for their time, with many of them only just becoming available, while the majority of the country was still under the restrictions of post-war rationing”.
Le Cordon Bleu London announced it will celebrate the coronation of King Charles III with a modern take on his mother’s dish: a gourmet coronation chicken bun.
Coronation quiche recipe 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 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 190C.
• 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 160C.
• 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.
Coronation chicken buns recipe
Serves 2
Ingredients
Coronation chicken
• 1 hot smoked chicken breast
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2g mild curry powder
• 2g ground turmeric
• 60g mayonnaise
• 15g creme fraiche
• 5g tomato ketchup
• 15g apricot nappage (sieved jam)
• juice of 1 lime
• small bunch coriander leaves
• 2 brioche buns
• salt and pepper
• 20g coconut chips
• 50g mangetout
• Coriander leaves
Method
Finely dice the chicken breast and finely slice the spring onions, then place in a large bowl.
Sprinkle over the curry powder and ground turmeric. Add the mayonnaise, creme fraiche, tomato ketchup, curry powder, apricot jam and lime juice and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Roughly chop the coriander leaves. Add to the chicken mixture and stir to coat in the sauce.
Garnish
Remove the tops and tails from the mangetout and thinly slice on an angle.
Slice the brioche buns lengthwise and set the tops aside. Scoop out the inside, being careful not to break the bun crust. Fill the scooped hole with the chicken mixture and top with a little mangetout, coconut chips and coriander leaves.
Put the top bun on top and serve immediately.