Difference between quiche & flan?
Karen M. Chan
Quiche: a non-sweet "egg pie" sort thing, which could include veggies,
meats and stuff like that baked into it, served hot as a main- or
side-dish.
Flan: a custard dessert served cold with caramel or other dessert-type sauce.
The common ingredient would be eggs, but the method of preparation and
other ingredients included would make them different textures. It's hard
for me to think of one as a "subset" of the other (mainly because I don't
like eggs or egg dishes, but love dessert, even if it's made with eggs).
Karen
In article <3iincb$8...@infa.central.susx.ac.uk>, al...@cogs.susx.ac.uk
(Alexander Farran) wrote:
> Here in sunny Brighton we have been discussing the precise definitions of the
> words "quiche" and "flan". The current opinion is that "quiche" is a subset
> of "flan". A quiche may be called a flan, but a flan is only a quiche if it
> contains egg.
>
> It has also been suggested that "quiche" is simply a trendy french word for
> "flan".
>
> According to the Collins dictionary: "quiche" originates from the German
> "kuchen" which means "cake", and "flan" is derived from the late Latin
> "flado", meaning "flat cake".
>
> We will be grateful for any further information you can provide to aid us in
> our quest for culinary enlightenment.
>
>
> Alex
--
Whatever Happens... Smile! :)
Anne Bourget
egg. cream, and cheese mixture baked in a savory pastry shell. Quiches
may contain other ingredients as well: onions, bacon, vegetables, etc.
A flan can be a dessert custard or a custard with fresh fruit served in a
sweet pastry shell. The former is common in Spain and Portugal, and the
latter is the definition often used in South American countries.
Anne
--
____________________________________________________________________________
Anne Bourget bou...@netcom.com
re...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
> Here in sunny Brighton we have been discussing the precise definitions of the
> words "quiche" and "flan". The current opinion is that "quiche" is a subset
> of "flan". A quiche may be called a flan, but a flan is only a quiche if it
> contains egg.
>
> It has also been suggested that "quiche" is simply a trendy french word for
> "flan".
>
> According to the Collins dictionary: "quiche" originates from the German
> "kuchen" which means "cake", and "flan" is derived from the late Latin
> "flado", meaning "flat cake".
>
> We will be grateful for any further information you can provide to aid us in
> our quest for culinary enlightenment.
>
> Alex
I've always thought that a quiche was an egg-based savory pie, always
having a crust. And a flan was a custardy type of dessert, much like
a creme caramel, usually baked, and with a soft yet firm consistency.
I'm no expert, I just like to eat!!
--Deirdre Reid
re...@guvax.georgetown.edu
Patricia Reynolds
I (British English speaker) agree with the original poster: all
quiches are flans, but not all flans are quiches (I have, for example,
a recipie for Carrot Flan which has no eggs in it). Most egg-based
flans can be called quiches. Which is a new arrival (1949).
American English seems to follow a continental useage: flan, in
Letzburgish is this kind of desert.
Now, where do tarts fit in to this?
--
Patricia Reynolds
p...@caerlas.demon.co.uk
Deborah Stevenson
varied usages of the word "flan". As far as I can tell, flan in the U.S.
goes with the custard idea; flan when I was in the British Isles (and
perhaps also in the commonwealth countries?) always turned out to be
fruity stuff on a sponge-cake base--very disappointing if you wanted proper
six-million-egg-yolks-and-heavy-cream flan.
Hope this helps,
Deborah Stevenson
(stev...@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu)
Elise A. Fleming
Is the use of "flan" vs. "quiche" so much a difference between
American English and British English? As a Spanish teacher, flan
is always shown to be an egg custard, a dessert item. My experi-
ence is that we Americans have taken the Spanish dessert, flan,
and the French egg pie, quiche, and therefore see them and call
them by two different names. "Flan" in Spain, or Mexico, or
Argentina should produce an egg custard, frequently with a
"burnt sugar" or caramelized-sugar topping.
Elise/Alys
Nancy Roatcap
>
>Here in sunny Brighton we have been discussing the precise definitions of the
>words "quiche" and "flan". The current opinion is that "quiche" is a subset
>of "flan". A quiche may be called a flan, but a flan is only a quiche if it
>contains egg.
Quiche may be a "subset" of flan. But a flan is never a quiche. A quiche
is a regional dish from France, with a few ingredients and baked in a
certain way. A flan is a centuries old open filled pastry which may or
may not have eggs incorporated into the recipe, sometimes as a precooked
custard poured over the filling, or lightly scrambled and put into
a precooked (but not necessarily) shell. Flan can be a test of the
gourmet chef's skill. The term flan can also be used to describe a type
of caramel custard. Sweet flans are often called tarts.
>It has also been suggested that "quiche" is simply a trendy french word for
>"flan".
Not! A regional dish from France.
>According to the Collins dictionary: "quiche" originates from the German
>"kuchen" which means "cake", and "flan" is derived from the late Latin
>"flado", meaning "flat cake".
According to Montagne in Gastronomique, flan is "a metallurgical term, a
metal disc...(and flan was mentioned by the Latin poet) Fortunatus
(309-609AD). He says that St. Radegonde, as an exercise in mortification,
made flans but ate only the coarse outer crust made of rye or oatmeal
dough." Montagne further states that "In USA a flan is known as a tart
or pie."
>We will be grateful for any further information you can provide to aid us in
>our quest for culinary enlightenment.
>Alex
It is interesting to note that Montagne claims the quiche was originally
made with a "bread paste" crust.
Nancy Roatcap
Food Fan
bus...@busstop.roc.servtech.com
> Here in sunny Brighton we have been discussing the precise definitions of the
> words "quiche" and "flan". The current opinion is that "quiche" is a subset
> of "flan". A quiche may be called a flan, but a flan is only a quiche if it
> contains egg.
>
> "flan".
>
> "kuchen" which means "cake", and "flan" is derived from the late Latin
> "flado", meaning "flat cake".
>
> our quest for culinary enlightenment.
>
>
> Alex
>
>>>>
Ellen Cicero 716-394-8453
115 Beal St. Heart of the Finger Lakes
Canandaigua, Ny 14424 "do it right the first time!"
Renee Florsheim
>Elise/Alys
Funny that this should come up this weekend. I was just in a cookbook store
this weekend with a friend who sells cookware and who was looking up the
origins of the word "flan". It turns out there are two, one of spanish or
mexican origin, and one of french origin. The french one seems to be also a
dessert item, but (at least as I understand it) the pan is more like a tart
pan with a raised center in the bottom. When turned upside down, it leaves an
indentation into which one can put a filling, such as fruit. It seems to me
that several years ago a friend served me something similar, which she
insisted was called a torte (not my experience of what a torte was). Anyway,
it's all very confusing. The only thing which I can definitely say is that a
quiche is traditionally a savory egg and cheese custard dish in a crust.
Renee
Dr. Manda Lynch
> > al...@cogs.susx.ac.uk (Alexander Farran) writes:
> > Here in sunny Brighton we have been discussing the precise definitions of the
> > words "quiche" and "flan". The current opinion is that "quiche" is a subset
> > of "flan". A quiche may be called a flan, but a flan is only a quiche if it
> > contains egg.
> >
> > It has also been suggested that "quiche" is simply a trendy french word for
> > "flan".
>
> and a flan has no shell but is just itself.
That's the US usage, where a flan seems to be something along the lines of a creme
caramel. I've also seen it in Mexican restaurants in the US. However in Australia,
and presumably Britain, both a quiche and a flan are some sort of flat single crust
pie with a filling.
My $0.02 is:
A quiche has a filling which must include egg, and I generally think of it as
a savoury dish.
A flan may or may not include egg in its filling, although if it is just fruit
with no custard I guess it becomes a tart!! I generally think of a flan as a sweet
(i.e. dessert) dish.
So now I'm more confused - what is the difference between a quiche, a flan, and
a tart?
ka...@incontext.ca
In article <1995Feb24.080412.15773@guvax>, <re...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu>
writes:
As a Brit living in Canada, who travels frequently to the US, let me
contribute my spin on this debate:
-in the US, it seems that a flan is as above, a custardy-creme-caramel
thingy
-the word flan is infrequently used in Canada - usually only by Brits, or
serious pastry chefs - and most often as fruit flan
-I have encountered the word tart for a savoury pastry based thingy...
(e.g. ratouille tart) in both Canada and the US.
-flan as I understand it, is as the original posters suggested.
So it seems that what we have here is yet another difference
in UK/US English.
Kate
Joshin Yamada
I have a quiche cookbook that has American and British recipes, and
half of the recipes are called flans on the UK side of the page.
In Cuba and Mexico, it seems that flan refers specifically to a rich
custard, usually without crust, often with caramel sauce.
Quiche seems to be more universally accepted, as an egg pie with a
crrust and usually savory.
Are there other recipes (not savory and eggy) that are Pies in the
US and flans in the UK, or is just quiches that translate to flan
there?
We should keep track of the national definitions and put it in the
FAQ under Quiche/flan/pie Debate.
Deebie
Lyndon Watson
> This gets into one of my pet peeves, the promiscuous (mis)use of the term
> "torte." It particularly irritates me when I see a tart labelled a torte.
> Arrgh.
When Lady Jane became a torte
It nearly broke her father's horte,
...
No, doesn't work...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lyndon Watson L.Wa...@csc.canterbury.ac.nz
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Deacon
>Elise/Alys
In my naivete I always thought that the term 'flan' came from the
old dish 'flaunes'
FLAUNES
Take new cheese, and grynde hit fayne, in mortar with eggs without
dysware. Put powder thereto of sugar I say, coloure hit with Safrone
ful wel thou may. Put hit in cofyns that be fayre, and bake it forthe
I thee pray.
Flaunes are still made in Cyprus (Greek and Turkish) where they are
flavoured with mint and served as Easter treats. Having not had dairy
produce for the whole of lent, they make a welcome change!
--
Alan Deacon (User Services)
Information Systems Division Email: a.de...@ucl.ac.uk
University College London Tel: 0171-380 7359
Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT Fax: 0171-388 5406