Why go
It is a practical French dish to recognize because the crust and custard stay constant while the filling changes. Quiche Lorraine is the best-known version: it began as an open pie of custard and lardons, with cheese common in later preparations.
The full story
Quiche is a savoury, open-faced pastry with a filling based on eggs and milk or cream. When baked, the filling sets as a custard, leaving room for cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. The dish is part of French cuisine, though custards baked in pastry also appear in English cookbooks from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The French word was recorded in 1605 and may be related to the German Kuchen, meaning cake or tart; English adopted quiche in 1805. Quiche Lorraine, named for the Lorraine region, began as an open pie filled with custard and lardons. Later versions commonly added mature cheese and bacon. Other varieties may be named for ingredients, such as quiche au fromage or quiche aux champignons, or by established names such as Florentine and Provençale.