Key Points
- Since its 1953 debut, Queen Elizabeth II's 'coronation chicken' has become a household name.
- Will King Charles III's 'coronation quiche' leave the same legacy?
- Here's what you need to know about the royal dish that's causing a stir around the world.
You've heard of 'coronation chicken', but what about 'coronation quiche'?
It's the dish that's dividing a kingdom. The British royal family have unveiled the signature meal that millions will eat to celebrate King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla's .
The quiche in question is a vegetarian number featuring spinach, broad beans and tarragon - and it's set to be served at celebratory community events dubbed the Coronation Big Lunch from 6-8 May.
Whether it will leave its mark on the culinary world in the same vein as the late Queen Elizabeth II's 'coronation chicken' or “poulet reine Elizabeth” - which was created by culinary school Le Cordon Bleu London to be served at the Queen's Coronation Luncheon in 1953 - remains to be seen.
From the cost of ingredients to questions over whether quiche - a traditionally French dish - is an appropriate choice for a British monarch, the coronation special has been picked apart online.
So what's all the fuss about?
A royal recipe: What's in the coronation quiche?
Last week, the royal family unveiled the coronation quiche - a dish "chosen personally by Their Majesties, the King and the Queen Consort" and created by royal chef Mark Flanagan.
So what does Charles and Camilla's tart of choice contain?
The royal family's website describes the dish as a "deep quiche with a crisp, light pastry case and delicate flavours of spinach, broad beans and fresh tarragon".
"Eat hot or cold with a green salad and boiled new potatoes."
You on the website. The dish calls for a shortcrust pastry base and a filling consisting of: milk, double cream, eggs, chopped fresh tarragon, cheddar cheese, chopped spinach, and broad beans or soya beans, seasoned with salt and pepper.
The dish will take centre stage at the Coronation Big Lunch - a series of community lunches that will take place from 6-8 May across the UK and beyond to celebrate the coronation while raising money for local charities.
Mixed reactions
The quiche has been met with mixed reactions in the UK and around the world.
Former chef to the British royal family Darren McGrady said it was "no surprise" that King Charles had chosen the quiche to celebrate his coronation.
"His mother, The Queen, loved chocolate, but The King loves anything with eggs and cheese. Made this for him many times... especially with salmon he'd caught in the river Dee," McGrady wrote on Twitter.
Dame Prue Leith, a judge on TV show The Great British Bake Off, was invited to sample the quiche, whipped up by the for a pre-coronation event, and told Vanity Fair it was "absolutely delicious".
“There was no soggy bottom, the custard was not overcooked and dry, and the balance of tarragon was perfect—a really good quiche,” she said.
Not everyone was as positive about the dish.
"Unfit for a king: Sorry Charles, Coronation Quiche is gross", ran the headline of a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece.
With the UK grappling with a , and the fallout from an egg shortage that has seen prices for the kitchen staple soar, the Socialist Party of the UK took aim at the royal quiche.
"While the rest of us struggle to afford lunch at all, with eggs in particular rocketing in price, an estimated £100 million will be spent on the coronation, according to the ‘Operation Golden Orb’ committee which is organising the circus," the party wrote in a post on its website mockingly titled 'Let them eat quiche!'.
UK tabloids also seized on the ingredient list.
"'Have they seen the supermarket shelves recently?': Royal fans hit out at King Charles' coronation quiche as the key ingredient is 'the most difficult commodity to get hold of' amid a national egg shortage", ran the headline of one Daily Mail UK article.
For others, the quiche raised questions about Britain's "difficult legacy" as an imperial power.
"The message of any British coronation is arguably that we should celebrate Britishness. The question, then, is what a French staple is doing at the centre of the table," wrote Rachel Rich, a scholar of Modern European History at Leeds Beckett University, .
"Charles’s choices might be intended to recognise the multiculturalism of Britain today. But they are also a reminder of the difficult legacy of empire. The stories we tell about ourselves through our food weave together the things we want to say, and the things we cannot help but reveal."
