Recipe: Ploughman's Lunch

Though the image it conveys, as a hearty sustenance for working in the fields, may be a bit outdated in today's world of cubicle jockeys, there are few meals I can think of that are so delicious and yet so inherently simple. It is precisely the rustic nature of the ploughman's lunch that makes it so appealing and romantic.

The ploughman's lunch is supposedly from a bygone era, but any attempt to pin the exact time period down lands you in the 1960s. Although its origins are strongly in doubt, its ingredients are not.

First, you have the cheese. "Tradition" would dictate a nice hunk of Cheddar (English, of course) or Stilton. Personally, I'd love a bit of Stinking Bishop as an alternative. Just keep it robust and, above all, keep it English.

Next up, the pickle! No two ways about it, it's a Branston pickle all the way. (For those not in the know, Branston pickle is an English pickle relish.) There seems to be very little wiggle room here, though I did find a few references to using pickled onions in addition (not as a substitute, mind you).

Last, a hunk of bread! Fellow New Yorkers, I completely visualize Sullivan Street's Pan Pugliese in this role. Regardless of what you choose, keep it white, crusty and rustic!

Most recipes I found also included a salad. To me, this seems just a little at odds with the rest of the meal. A hunk of cheddar, a hearty loaf of bread, and… a bed of mesclun greens? It just doesn't sound right. I much prefer the idea of using that stomach space for a pint of beer to wash it all down with!

Though we might be a long way from an English pub, it just takes a bit of cheese and some imagination to get you there. Enjoy!

Comments (9)

I indulge in this sort of lunch all the time, but I usually swap in a crisp apple for the salad. I recommend Montgomery's cheddar if you can get a hold of a hunk of it.

Being from england myself, and recalling many ploughman's lunches on a Sunday afternoon with my family down at the local pub in th 70's, I can tell you that in noway was salad involved! It was just cheese, bread, branston pickle and pickled onions. In Ireland where I also lived, the bread was always Irish soda bread - so good!

So glad you mentioned this. Every time I go to the UK, I love to stop in a pub for a pint and a Ploughman's. They can be so perfect -- with English farmhouse Stilton. Yummmm.

Sometimes you get to pick between Branston or Picalily.

When I traveled through the UK years ago, the food was so relentlessly bad, except for curry shops and overpriced restaurants, that we ate in the pubs whenever possible, and the reliable ploughman's lunch was always our first choice.

The pubs still had strange closing hours, including mid-afternoon, so pubs weren't always a possible choice. I remember a spectacularly bad meal in an Italian place in Aberdeen, Scotland. I figured how badly could they screw up pasta and a red sauce. The answer was plenty--it came out as a transparent brothlike liquid poured over cooked-to-death noodles. As soon as the pubs reopened, we stopped for a proper meal--a ploughman's, of course.

your last trip to the UK really must have been many, many years ago. they have made such huge leaps and bounds that i think in a lot of ways their restaurants, and certainly their selection at grocers, are better than we have here. i still prefer a ploughman's lunch, or curry though!

don't forget the omnipresent sprig of spring onion!

i looooved ploughman's lunches when i lived in england. thanks for the good memories!!!

A true ploughmans lunch is cheese and pickle with stale or crusty bread washed down with english cider!

geno jalepeno ! bites the big one