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“Having sudden guests? Make them a quiche. It’s fancy, but it’s also fast and foolproof.” Thus begins the quiche Lorraine episode of Julia Child’s iconic PBS show “The French Chef.” The episode belongs to Season 8 of the show, which aired in 1971 and marked a distinct before-and-after in the quiche-takeover that quickly dominated ’70s home cooking.
One of the most influential tips from Child’s oeuvre, quiche Lorraine doesn’t require any fancy cooking techniques. The French open-faced savory egg tart demands significantly lower-maintenance than many other French classic dishes like coq au vin. It comes together quickly, looks impressive, and is filling enough to serve as an entree — all of which made the dish a quick favorite for the aspirational, oft-hosting home cooks of the ’70s.
Traditional quiche Lorraine comprises just bacon, eggs and crème fraîche. Other preparations also include cheese and onion. Child’s version of the dish veers classical; the recipes featured in her 1968 collection “The French Chef Cookbook” and in her seminal cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” stick to the minimal egg, bacon, and heavy cream composition. But, elsewhere, other recipes penned by Child (like the one she printed in Food & Wine) add grated Gruyère into the mix. Pair quiche Lorraine with a crisp salad and chilled white wine to complete the meal, as Child suggests in the “French Chef” episode. Or, take a cue from 18 more dishes everyone ate for dinner in the ’70s.
Child brought quiche Lorraine from France to the dinner tables of the U.S.
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During her tenure as Food & Wine columnist, Julia Child wrote of quiche, “What lovely little suppers we used to have in the sixties, when real people ate quiche […] During its vogue in this country, the creative quiche was rampant, with pastry shells almost two inches deep, custard to match, and fanciful fillings very similar to what is happening with pizza and focaccia today. Quiche was everywhere […] what an easy, pleasant way to entertain.”
Indeed, charming-yet-accessible quiche Lorraine found a fitting fanbase against the backdrop of the 1970s — a decade in which a penchant for dinner parties and at-home hosting intersected with culinary experimentation. At large, ’70s culture was characterized by a shift toward self-expression and a broader global awareness, which naturally begot a culinary trend toward European recipes and an open-minded willingness to try unfamiliar cooking techniques.
Quiche Lorraine was both gourmet and simple to make, a sophisticated dish with French flair that delivered on the “je ne sais quoi” factor, alongside other elevated ’70s-era favorites like crêpes Suzette, fried Camembert, black forest cake, and vol-au-vents. Meanwhile, the convenience-based advents that dominated the 1970s (like store-bought pre-made pie crust) coupled with quiche’s wide potential for customization with different ingredient scraps made quiche Lorraine a thrifty, adaptable dish that arrived at precisely the right time to be a hit in home kitchens across Middle America.
Dining and Cooking