'More like spinach pie': Felicity Cloake tests King Charles and Camilla's coronation quiche

Let's be honest, the Coronation Chicken was always going to be a tough act to follow. Indeed, until I saw a tweet from fellow food writer Sejal Sukhadwala expressing surprise that the 'official' 'coronation recipes' were so 'random', I had assumed the palace wouldn't even take worth trying to rival Constance Spry's 1953 triumph. And then, just before noon, the Royal Family's Twitter account nonchalantly threw the coronation quiche into the mix.

Described as having been "personally chosen by Their Majesties the King and Queen Consort", at first glance it ticks more boxes than Gregg Wallace's (official) Prawn and Pineapple Tacos, including because during the pandemic, Clarence House sought to comfort the nation with a recipe for cheesy boiled eggs described as one of the prince's favorites at the time. .

In addition to the typical British cheddar, the quiche contains two seasonal vegetables here in May, spinach and broad beans. The King, who avoids meat and fish two days a week, is known to be an avid gardener (or, possibly, an avid supervisor of the work of others in that department).

The choice of tarragon, an herb that always screams France to me, is intriguing. Perhaps, like the quiche itself, it's a nod to the couple's ill-fated first visit abroad, or to young Camilla's time studying in Paris, although the queen consort has admitted in interviews that his own cooking skills are pretty much the beans. on toast. Anyway, unlike prawns (sorry Gregg), this definitely looks like something I'd like to eat on an early summer Sunday, so I'm glad to have the chance to test it out before the big day.< /p>

The first thing I notice when gathering my ingredients is that the shortcrust pastry contains lard. Great for the flaky texture, but it seems odd that the Royal House doesn't suggest replacing the same amount of butter for those who don't eat pork for some reason. The second, while I have a hard time rolling out things big enough to line the pan, is that this is a recipe written by a professional chef, rather than someone used to serving home cooks.

My best advice for anyone trying to do this: unless you're a baking pro, make double the suggested amount, put the case back in the oven for another five minutes to dry out after removing the baking beans, and make sure you squeeze every last drop of water out of your spinach before adding it or you'll end up with egg soup. I also warn you that it will probably take more than 25 minutes to reach the golden beauty of the palace version.

The result, best served lukewarm rather than hot, is so thrilling lots of veggies it's more like a spinach pie than a quiche, as one of my testers observes (you can reduce the amount a bit if that annoys you, and swap the tarragon for another sweet herb if you aren't a fan of anise flavors), but the surrounding custard is light and creamy, and the generous helping of cheese is likely to appease all but the most determined ecophobes.

Does Coronation Quiche measure up to my beloved Curried Chicken Salad? Well, it's less original, less distinctive - but it's also likely to be less divisive, which is exactly what the country needs right now. Whether anyone remembers it 70 years from now is another matter.

The recipe says the dish serves six.

1 20 cm flan mold

Pastries125 g flour a pinch of salt25 g cold butter, diced 25 g lard2 tablespoons milkOr 1 block of ready-to-use shortcrust pastry 250g Filling125ml milk175ml crème fraîche2 medium eggs1tbsp chopped fresh tarragonSalt and pepper100g grated cheddar cheese180g cooked spinach, lightly chopped60g cooked beans or soybeansProcess1. To make the dough: sift the flour and salt into a bowl; add the fats and rub the mixture in with your fingertips until you get a sandy texture similar to breadcrumbs. Add the milk little by little and combine the ingredients to form a paste.Cover and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes.2. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough into a circle a little larger than the top of the mold and about 5mm thick.3. Line the mold with the dough, taking care not to make any holes, otherwise the mixture could leak. Cover and leave to rest for another 30 minutes in the refrigerator.4. Preheat the oven to 190C.5. Line the bottom of the pie with parchment paper, add the ba...