Kathy Paterson's Coronation Quiche. Photo: Suppled/Kathy Paterson
King Charles is famously fond of his organic gardening, so it's no surprise his coronation dish features some popular English summer produce.
The quiche recipe screams summer; tarragon, broad beans, and spinach paired with double cream and English cheddar.
Former Le Cordon Bleu teacher and The RNZ Cookbook editor Kathy Paterson thinks the herb is the secret ingredient.
"I think the fresh tarragon really will make the actual mixture sing, and it, it'll be really good with the spinach and the broad beans which they are using."
It's harvesting season for tarragon, broad beans, and spinach in the UK. It's likely all of these will be growing in the King's garden at his Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire.
It's a different story in New Zealand - rather than heading into summer we are leaving it, and we're approaching the season to sow broad beans, not harvest them.
Sometimes broad beans can be found in the supermarket's freezer section - but when I went on the hunt to make a quiche of my own, I ran out of luck.
Fresh tarragon is also hard to find, but thankfully Paterson saw that coming and has a suggestion for prospective quiche chefs.
"I have got some substitutes, which I'm going use anyway. Chives, parsley, and if I can find some, a little bit of chervil, and some spring onion, which I've got growing in the garden."
That's useful advice. I couldn't find any fresh tarragon, so took Paterson's suggestion and switched it for parsley and spring onion.
The rest of the ingredients are easy to find: milk, eggs and cheese. You can make your own pastry or buy it - I bought it.
The recipe asks for double cream, which can be hard to track down.
Paterson says regular single cream can be used instead - but I found the real deal thanks to only one brand in New Zealand making it.
My basket full, I headed to the checkout and prepare myself for the bill.
Altogether, including my substitutions and accounting for the fact I already have salt and pepper at home, I spend $39.97 - not bad for a feast fit for the King.
Tips for quiche chefs:
- Dried tarragon is available year-round, Paterson suggests going for a substitution instead as dried herbs lose some flavour.
- The pastry will need to be blind-baked, if baking beans or pie weights are not available rice or dried beans will work instead.
- Make sure to wring as much moisture out of the spinach as possible, it can leech moisture into the quiche. In my case this meant I ended up with a soggy quiche and had to rush and make a second, and all the pastry broke, and my cat ended up eating scraps raw from the floor while I tried to get enough together to make the shell.
Do all that and you may just end up with a quiche good enough to impress royalty (or Morning Report team members).
