Ceci n’est pas une quiche (Picture: PA/Getty Images)

When is a quiche not a quiche?

When it’s a tart, according to the French.

A pastry-based debate has ignited following an interview with Évelyne Muller-Dervaux, the grand master of the Brotherhood of the Quiche Lorraine.

She was quizzed about what will be the staple of Big Lunches across the country this weekend: the Coronation Quiche.

The dish made an appearance in public for the first time on April 18.

King Charles and Camilla gave their blessing for the delicacy, which contains broad beans, tarragon, spinach and cheese.

But a French rebellion is brewing over the rising popularity of the Coronation Quiche.

Ms Muller-Dervaux decreed she would refer to the dish as ‘a savoury tart’ rather than the name of the French-inspired recipe.

Prue Leith and Prince Edward sampling some Coronation Quiche (Picture: The Big Lunch)

She also took issue with the meal’s lack of pizzazz.

The expert told the Times: ‘I was surprised when I found out [what the dish was].

‘I said to myself, “This is a banal, common, popular dish, and to think that it is being served at a coronation”.’

A quiche is, as Ms Ms Muller-Dervaux alludes to, commonly referred to as ‘a French tart’ in recipes, with a quiche Lorraine seen as a ‘variant’.

Another member of the Quiche Lorraine brotherhood, Laurent Miltgen-Delinchamp, told The Times: ‘I think it would have anyway better reflected the British spirit if they had called it a tart’.

A dish fit for a King (Picture: Getty/The Royal Family)

He said the confusion around quiches and tarts is commonplace in France as well.

He added: ‘Frankly it shocks me less when Anglo-Saxons do that than when the French do it’.

The quiche versus tart discourse can be found in all corners of the internet, with some going as far as to suggest a quiche is not a tart, but a pie.

Metro recently had a bash at creating a Coronation Quiche, which yielded mixed feedback.

One taster described it as ‘the food equivalent of getting caught in April drizzle’.

‘I won’t be rushing out to make it myself, but there’s nothing truly horrific about it,’ surmised another. ‘Fine if you’re hungry.’

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A French rebellion is brewing over the rising popularity of the Coronation Quiche.