What Is The Difference Between Tart And Quiche?

on September 20, 2022

Quiches are an extremely popular dish is often eaten in summer with a salad and it is a tremendous way of using up eggs and any excess greens you have in the garden however you may be wondering what the difference between a quiche and a tart is or are they just different names of the same thing?

Quiche and tarts are both dishes that have a short-crust pastry in most cases with a filling in it, however, the quiche may be considered a specific type of tart. Quiches are always savory dishes that are made with an egg and cream filling that usually has things in it like bacon and sometimes garden greens such as spinach and spring onions.

Whereas a tart can be made both sweet and savory and can contain a range of different fillings which can vary from things like custard, apple, and even pumpkin. However, more often than not tarts tend to be sweet dishes that are often used as desserts.

About Tarts

Tarts are thought to have originated somewhere in the 15th century approximately 200 years after pies begins become commonplace. They are most commonly associated with french cuisine, however, there is evidence to suggest that similar dishes were in used in places like England, Italy, and even Germany in the 13th and 14th centuries.

However, it is the French word tarte that has become synonymous with this dish even though it is a general term that can be used to describe a pie or a tart. The dish was originally made with bread dough as the crust but gradually evolved over time to be made with either a short pastry or a puff pastry.

During this period of time, there was a range of different tart recipes that were developed which included the development of a modern-day quiche. The use of tarts became commonplace in many countries in Europe from 1550 onwards in medieval courts with many variations being developed over time.

And while things like quiche remain a part of the diet they were not eaten that frequently by the general populace until their popularity increase significantly shortly after the second world war. One of the driving factors associated with this, particularly in the UK, was the availability of the ingredients. This was because food rationing was still in place several years after the war which meant that things like meat was difficult to get hold of.

Today there are many varieties of quiche that are readily available that have specific French names, a list of the more common ones is provided in the table below for your reference.

Quiche Name	Ingredients
Quiche au Camembert	Camembert cheese, cream, eggs
Quiche aux champignons	mushrooms, cream, eggs
Quiche aux endives	chicory, cream, eggs, cheese
Quiche aux épinards	spinach, cream, eggs
Quiche au fromage de Gruyère	Gruyère cheese, cream, eggs, bacon
Quiche aux fromage blanc	cream cheese, cream, eggs, bacon
Quiche aux fruits de mer	shrimp, crab or lobster, cream, eggs
Quiche aux oignons	onions, cream, eggs, cheese
Quiche aux poireaux	leeks, cream, eggs, cheese
Quiche au Roquefort	Roquefort cheese, cream, eggs
Quiche comtoise	Comté cheese, cream, eggs, smoked bacon
Quiche Lorraine	cream, eggs, bacon
Quiche niçoise, à la tomate	anchovies, olives, tomatoes, eggs, Parmesan cheese

Is A Pie A Tart?

The other common question that often comes up is whether can pie be considered a tart as well. The feature that differentiates a pie from a tart is the fact that the pie filling is completely enclosed in pastry whereas in the case of a tart it is open.

However, what is similar about the pie and tart is that they can both have a range of sweet and savory fillings which often include a range of different fruits like apples, soft fruit, and stone fruit. However, it is also extremely common to use meat or even seafood as a filling for pies as well.

Additionally, a common variation for a pie is a cottage pie which has a layer of mashed potato across the top of the pie which is enclosing its filling. Many people also make pies in ramekins which reduces the amount of pastry required which is ideal for making the recipe more suitable for diabetics by reducing the carb loading..

What Is The Difference Between A Flan And A Tart?

Another dish that has a lot of similarities to a tart is a flan. Flans can also be considered a type of tart-like quiche. The specific type of tart that the term flan describes is a tart that is filled with custard. However, it is quite common for custard-filled flans to be described as tarts by many people.

This is an entirely reasonable thing to do given that there are plenty of recipes out there that have a filling of custard with a layer of berries or fruit on top so the line between a flan and a tart is often blurred.