Nora Johnson: Coronation quiche doesn’t deserve its online roasting

For some people, Coronation Quiche with its spinach and broad bean filling may seem a bit unexciting and unglamorous for such a grand occasion this weekend. On the other hand, it’s part of just the type of nostalgic, comfort food that’s currently enjoying a revival.

Or maybe it’s to do with the UK being hit with strikes in multiple areas? People in the UK struggling on a daily basis with the increased cost of living and higher food prices, inflation and interest rates, let alone China flexing its muscles and the war in Ukraine continuing to disrupt world trade. Who doesn’t remember the seventies, say, with nostalgia – a time of relative peace and calmness?

And foods from that period inevitably bring back memories. Who made it. Who you ate it with. What your life was like at that point in time…

For me, it’s onion soup served in one of those made-for-purpose bowls with a little handle. Or perhaps cheese fondue – wine, kirsch, bread. Anything smothered in bubbling hot melted cheese! What else? Prawn cocktail, steak Diane, peach Melba or butterscotch Angel Delight with chopped banana and Bird’s Eye Dream Topping (eaten straight from the bowl given half a chance…)

Or toad in the hole, shepherd’s pie, lemon meringue pie and Arctic Roll – cake AND ice cream in one pudding. What more could you want? And as for snacks, what about jelly cubes eaten straight from the packet? Squashed fly biscuits (Garibaldi, weren’t they?). Or Wagon Wheels – though should be renamed Trolley Castors thanks to shrinkflation.

After all that, who’d feel nostalgic for Quinoa salad?

And as for the height of sophistication in my youth: Vesta Chow Mein with crispy noodles! Or oeufs Mornay – a ‘posh’ starter. A boiled egg cut in half and smothered in a dodgy ‘sauce’ that invariably tasted like salad cream with a bit of wilted mint sprinkled over it. Also avocado vinaigrette- half a rock-hard or ridiculously mushy avocado with bitter vinaigrette filling the hole. And, in the more upmarket restaurants, a couple of sad-looking prawns floating around in the liquid.

Actually, Delia Smith was way ahead of her time and her recipes are still incredibly reliable crowd-pleasers. They’ll surely long outlive the dreadful recipes you regularly come across these days where the ‘chef’ believes you can chuck anything together and just camouflage the tasteless result with chilli. Yuk!

But frankly, I’ve never understood this ‘comeback’ thing. If something is good, it’s good. End of. Do you stop eating a certain food (like the humble quiche), drinking a certain drink, watching a certain movie or reading a certain book (a suspense or crime thriller, like me?) because somebody else tells you it’s outdated, and that’s the thing to do?

Do you throw away all your clothes or shoes every year when some magazine tells you: “They’re so last season!”? (Clue: it’s a business – that’s their job.) There’s absolutely nothing wrong with trying new things and being experimental, but it’s good to have the classics locked away too. After all, it’s the classics that are your gold standard for comparing quality.

So, in brief, all I’m saying is: Give Quiche a Chance…

Nora Johnson’s 12 critically acclaimed psychological suspense crime thrillers (www.nora-johnson.net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99;£0.99), Apple Books, audiobooks, paperbacks at  Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.