The humble Ploughmans lunch

[Otterspocket Profile]

Every now and then I get a real Ploughmans craving , for me it makes the perfect pub lunch mid walk but hey are becoming increasingly hard to find.

Couldn’t find anywhere to indulge yesterday so instead I am having one at home tonight :

Cheese element is Cornish Cruncher with a controversial choice of Vignotte which is new cheese to me but adore it

Assorted home made pickles , onions , bread and butter pickles and some of hubbies spiced onion marmalade

Thick cut ham

Tomatoes from the garden

Celery

Chunks of super fresh baguette and ‘posh’ butter

Oh and Heinz salad cream

Just a shame it’s so awful weather wise here as would be much nicer in the garden with a big glass of kombucha

Reminds me I need to research pub lunches for our upcoming week in the lakes - one place I know I can get a beloved Ploughmans

[jeral Profile]

Ploughman's went down the hill when a sandwich, daintily cut into quarters, upended, and scattered with cress "artified" it. A decent chunk or plane-sliced mature Cheddar and hunk of crusty bread will remain my idea of a "proper" one.

Weather's calm and sunny now here today, the opposite of yesterday, so are you catching the tail end of the low pressure front?

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

We were talking about the ploughmans lunch last evening.
Well, we were talking about Corfe Castle, where I had a fantastic ploughmans decades ago. On a wooden board.

My husband expects it to have Branston pickle.
Nope, pickled onions I think.

[Otterspocket Profile]

Ploughman's went down the hill when a sandwich, daintily cut into quarters, upended, and scattered with cress "artified" it. A decent chunk or plane-sliced mature Cheddar and hunk of crusty bread will remain my idea of a "proper" one.

Weather's calm and sunny now here today, the opposite of yesterday, so are you catching the tail end of the low pressure front?

We were up in Northumberland yesterday and experienced the worst rain while driving ever and as a result there were some awful flooding , at one stage the water was close to entering my parents utility room but thankfully it didn’t. Drove to a restaurant a few miles away and at one stage I thought we were going to join the cars that had been abandoned in the worst of the ‘ponds’ but thankfully my tank made it through. Most of the local river courses have burst their banks and they have a red weather warning in place for more rain too.

I’ve told parents if it gets bad to call and I will go and bring them back here for a few days

[cherrytree Profile]

I love a good ploughman’s lunch too, particularly with a good Cheddar and my favourite, Delia’s Christmas chutney that I make all year round. I read somewhere that it was in fact an invention, possibly by the Ministry of Food. Am I correct”?

[Joanbunting Profile]

I love a proper old fashioned ploughman's too but as it is essentialy a British dish it has to have British ingedients. which is not easy in the middle of Provence.

Try to picture your average Olde Englishe ploughman fishing in his bag and getting out a baguette and a lump of French cheese and "decent" butter.

He would get out whatever his wife or mother had made in her kitchen and dairy. M is from the West Country so would find Cheddar a flask of cider and a hunk of farmhouse bread with possibly a pickled onion and an apple from the orchard. Thats the sort of ploughmans we like. If and when we can lay our hands on decent Gritish cheese - I'll see to the bread and pickles and if he's very lucky he might even get a slice of pork pie

[Stokey Sue Profile]

We had a beautiful ploughman’s in a pub in Kent, you had to choose pickled onion or chutney, my friend was in the loo so I ordered one of each, a good choice as we got a little bowl of each on the side, both homemade and fantastic

Used to go to a pub where you got an individual cottage loaf for the bread, lovely.

I don’t like too many bits, one or two cheeses, butter, pickle/chutney, good bread, a few fresh things such as celery, tomato, apple and being a Hampshire hog I like watercress. Having lived for years with a non-cheese eater I also appreciate an option of ham or other charcuterie in place of the cheese

I slightly regret the move of pubs to hot food, full restaurant meals, I used to like having a ploughman’s, quiche and salad or a crab sandwich for lunch when out walking etc

The ploughman’s lunch was of course invented in its current form by the Dairy Council in the 1960s to sell cheese and encourage pub grub. A bit like tartiflette. My dad liked to point out that few traditional ploughmen could have afforded a lump of cheese

[jeral Profile]

Otterspocket: Keeping fingers firmly crossed. My sis suffered a flood that came up from the ground (rather than sandbagging the front door) and it's no joke. Toes crossed too.

[Otterspocket Profile]

Otterspocket: Keeping fingers firmly crossed. My sis suffered a flood that came up from the ground (rather than sandbagging the front door) and it's no joke. Toes crossed too.

Thanks I’ve just spoken to mam and she says while it has rained non stop since we left at 11 it’s much lighter today so the drains are coping - it looked rather like a bungalow surrounded by a moat yesterday

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I love one too but usually find I can only eat a half one these days.

[Joanbunting Profile]

Where in Northumberland Otterspocket? What remains of my family in the NE live there and cuz rang yesterday to say it was dreadful - but she's on a hill. It is pouring in St James' Park for the match.

[Amyw Profile]

I love a Ploughman’s . I always go for a chunk of Cheddar , nice crusty bread, preferably chutney of some kind and pickled onions, plus some salady bits , such as couple of sticks of celery and some decent tomatoes .

I was saying the other day pubs don’t seem to do meals like Ploughman’s much anymore . Even sandwiches are sub standard , huge and come with chips . I love a scotch egg and salad too , on a similar vein

[Otterspocket Profile]

Where in Northumberland Otterspocket? What remains of my family in the NE live there and cuz rang yesterday to say it was dreadful - but she's on a hill. It is pouring in St James' Park for the match.

It was between Walkworth and Shilbottle (there’s a fantastic Indian restaurant there ) that we experienced the worst but parents live in Amble.

[jeral Profile]

...[clip]...

I was saying the other day pubs don’t seem to do meals like Ploughman’s much anymore. ...

Reminds of that apposite Guinness advert: "You're the fiftieth(?) person I've told today - there's no demand for it."

The newly accompanying chips there probably is a demand for though.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

The perfect thing for lunch, as far as I´m concerned.
I´m in the Stokey Sue camp on this: a chunk of fresh bread, some sharp Cheddar and a pickled onion.
And a pint of Harvey´s, mate!!

[Joanbunting Profile]

All this talk of ploughmans made me really want one. As it happens I have a chunk of reasonable mature Cheddar - present from the UK and anotjer of mature Red Leicester.
I have pickled onions - HM and beetroot and horseradich relish so M has just popped up to the village to get a sourdough boule so that's lunch

Otterspocket, my family have long connections with Amble and area in fact my father spent the first months of the SWW loooking after the field hospital there and had some hillarious stories to tell. Both M and I taught in Northumberland. He was at the catholic high school in Bedlington for several years - they had pupils bussed in from Amble. DD was married in St Cuthberts Beedlingtom where the vicar was a good friend of ours.
It is a long time since I was there so I didn't know about the Indian restaurant.