Food fit for a king? Coronation quiche shows 'a nation in crisis,' says historian

The Current10:10Fit for a King? Coronation quiche provokes mixed reaction in U.K.

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Londoners have described a quiche created for King Charles's coronation as "awful," "a bit odd," "one of Charlie's mad recipes" — but also a suitable dish "in honour of the King."

The quiche — featuring spinach, fava (broad) beans and tarragon in the traditional egg and cheese bake — was specially chosen by the new king and queen. It will be part of the menu at community lunches across the U.K. on May 6, as royal watchers celebrate their new monarch.

Buckingham Palace said the dish was chosen because it can easily be shared, serves a wide range of dietary requirements and can be served hot or cold.

Food historian Rachel Rich has examined the recipe and says it doesn't sound great to her either, adding that a quiche strikes her as "boring lunchtime food rather than elegant, royal festive food."

LISTEN | How Londoners feels about King Charles's coronation quiche:

The Current2:15'Awful': Some Londoners not enticed by the 'coronation quiche'

Rose de Larrabeiti asked people in London how they feel about King Charles's 'coronation quiche.'

Rich, a food historian at Leeds Beckett University who specializes in the history of royal dining, spoke to The Current's guest host Robyn Bresnahan about the dish. Here is part of their conversation. 

Coronation food is said to offer a reflection of the time or a telling glimpse into the values of the new monarch. So what do you think that quiche says about the king? 

I think King Charles is probably trying to tell us something about his commitment to local produce. So broad beans in Britain are something that's locally grown, spinach can be locally grown. The king is committed to eating less meat than you might associate with the diet of a monarch; to being quite healthy and eating moderately, rather than luxuriously. So I think that's what he's trying to tell us. 

But I think, accidentally, this quiche might also be telling us something about a nation in crisis, which is searching for an identity. I don't think there's a confident message about Britishness in that coronation quiche.

Quiche is telling us a story about a nation in crisis. How so? 

I'm just thinking about Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation chicken, which was the kind of signature dish of the last British monarch's coronation.

Coronation chicken is flavoured with sort of Indian-inspired curry spices. Now, Elizabeth was crowned at a time when the British still felt confident about their place globally within an empire, which was turning into a commonwealth, which was going to be a powerful part of Britain's presence in the world.

Obviously, now we feel much more ambivalent about the Commonwealth and people are much more interested in the dark legacy of the British Empire. And so the quiche is sort of turning in on itself a little bit.

It's a very kind of European, modest, not heavily spiced food. And it's almost like there's a fear of kind of signalling what Britain used to be. And quite rightly, I think, because the monarchy's been accused of all sorts of variations of racism in recent years. And so they probably don't want to be accused of cultural appropriation during the coronation. 

You were grossed out by the broad beans in a quiche, but it's actually the eggs that social media seems to be in an uproar about, because of the soaring prices and the shortages on supermarket shelves … what do you make of that? 

I think it's really hard because I think we are very critical of the monarchy. A small number of British people love them. A lot of people are just completely indifferent. And I think that these recipes, like the coronation quiche, are just a desperate attempt to get people's attention. 

I think you're right about the price of eggs being a bit off-putting to a lot of people. But I can't imagine what else they could have done.

All food prices are going up in the U.K. … people are feeling the pinch. The coronation was supposed to be done in a low-key way in recognition of this cost of living crisis. But there was a big news story on the weekend about the £250 million [approximately $420 million Cdn] bill for security on coronation day next weekend. So I think people might be justifiably horrified at how much this is costing them. You know, the eggs are the least of it. 

Say that the palace came to you and said, 'You know, we really need to get a coronation dish that's going to signal the time right now, the sign of the times.' What would you have recommended instead of a quiche? 

I'm glad I didn't have to answer that question. But I wonder whether something that was actually a bit more multicultural might have been a more interesting and braver choice.

There is an official coronation website and it has more than just coronation quiche in terms of recipes.

One of them is shrimp tacos, one of them is a kind of a curried eggplant dish. One of them is a Chinese-style rack of lamb. So they did kind of toy, I think, with the idea of signalling that Britain is a diverse, multicultural nation — a nation that embraces the food cultures of people from all over the world who've come here.

And so I don't know why the one that ended up really being promoted in the end by the royal couple was this quiche. But it feels to me like too much of a safe bet.