This morning in Paris, I was waiting in line at the police station next to Notre Dame to get my visa renewed as I do every year with the foreign-born Parisian masses requesting permission to stay. It was chilly but the purple lilac trees were in bloom and the two policewomen doing crowd control were passing the time trading recipes.

Specifically, they were discussing the fine points of Quiche Lorraine, the French classic that is a simple mixture of eggs, lardons and cream. “I’m from Lorraine and I make a real Quiche Lorraine,” French policelady number one was faintly bragging to her sidekick. “Pas de fromage!”

“Oh, really?” said policelady numéro deux, before being treated to a blow-by-blow of the recipe by her colleague, down to oven temperature and the correct number of eggs (it was three).

All of which just goes to show you that nothing is sacred when it comes to cooking — and even French people don’t always know that an authentic Quiche Lorraine doesn’t include cheese. Nevertheless, we say skip the fromage — the real thing is rich and creamy enough without it.

Recipe: Quiche Lorraine (Cookthink)

Posted by kristin in recipes, personal | | Subscribe to this feed