QUICHE

Although quiche is now a classic dish of French cuisine, quiche actually originated in Germany, in the medieval kingdom of Lothringen, under German rule, and which the French later renamed Lorraine. The word ‘quiche’ is from the German ‘Kuchen’, meaning cake.

The original ‘quiche Lorraine’ was an open pie with a filling consisting of an egg and cream custard with smoked bacon. It was only later that cheese was added to the quiche Lorraine. Add onions and you have quiche Alsacienne. The bottom crust was originally made from bread dough, but that has long since evolved into a short-crust or puff pastry crust.

Quiche became popular in England sometime after the Second World War, and in the U.S. during the 1950's. Because of its primarily vegetarian ingredients, it was considered a somehow ‘unmanly’ dish, - “real men don’t eat quiche.”

Nancy's Specialty Foods Quiche Florentine USPN#9068610 sells 60 cases each week. Packed 24/6 oz portions per case. At $2.15 per portion this makes an excellent Vegetarian Entree!

Today, one can find many varieties of quiche, from the original quiche Lorraine, to ones with broccoli, mushrooms, ham and/or seafood (primarily shellfish). Quiche can be served as an entrée, for lunch, breakfast or an evening snack.

Real Men Don't Eat Quiche, by Bruce Feirstein, was a bestselling tongue-in-cheek book on stereotypes about masculinity, published in 1982 (ISBN 0-671-44831-5). It is the source of the term quiche-eater, meaning a man who is effeminate or who lacks some putative masculine virtue. It was on the New York Times best seller list for 53 weeks, and sold over 1.6 million copies.

About Nancy

Nancy Mueller founded Nancy's Specialty Foods in Menlo Park, CA in 1977. An accomplished entertainer, Nancy prepared more than 2,500 hors d'oeuvres by hand for her annual holiday celebrations.

Nancy's guests gave her bite-size creations rave reviews. Encouraged by family and friends, Nancy decided to make enough product to supply local stores. Although she increased the number of hors d'oeuvres she made, Nancy was determined to maintain the look and taste of homemade.

Nancy made more hors d'oeuvres, but continued using the same top-quality ingredients she used in her own kitchen - butter, flour, eggs, milk, cheese and fresh, local ingredients. With a simple hand-operated pie press system she made each Quiche by hand and delivered them store-to-store throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Her unflagging persistence paid off. In 1982, Nancy took 2,500 Petite Quiche to a warehouse club store where the product sold out in just four hours. The store ordered an additional 550 cases for its shelves and other Northern California locations. This was a turning point in Nancy's business.

In 1994, Nancy moved the company to its current 86,000-square foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Newark, CA, near San Francisco. She personally designed and built this facility to meet her exacting standards and needs. Additional people with extensive food preparation experience were brought aboard to ensure that quality ingredients and leading-edge production standards were translated into top-quality, mouth-watering products.

Today, Nancy's produces and freshly bakes more than 35 tons of mouthwatering, gourmet food products daily. Nancy's continues to work with many of its original local suppliers to obtain top-quality, fresh ingredients such as eggs, butter, cheese, produce and milk. The company employs more than 250 people, many of whom began working with Nancy during the company's fledgling phase.