 A traditional ploughman's lunch consisting of bread, cheese, cider, and onions. | |
| Alternative names | Ploughman's lunch |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Main ingredients | Bread, cheese, onion, pickle |
A ploughman's lunch is an English cold meal based around bread, cheese, and fresh or pickled onions.[1] Additional items can be added such as ham, green salad, hard boiled eggs, and apple, and usual accompaniments are butter and pickle, which in Britain denotes a chutney-like condiment.[2] As its name suggests, it is most commonly eaten at lunchtime. It is particularly associated with pubs, and often served with beer;[1] the saltiness of the cheese was noted to enhance the "relish of the beer."[3]
Beer, bread, and cheese have been combined in the English diet since antiquity, and have been served together in inns for centuries. However, the specific term "ploughman's lunch" is believed to date from the 1950s, when the Cheese Bureau, a marketing body, began promoting it in pubs as a way to increase the sales of cheese, which had recently ceased to be rationed. Its popularity increased as the Milk Marketing Board promoted the meal nationally throughout the 1960s.[4]
- ^ a b Hessayon, The new vegetable and herb expert, 2014, p. 73
- ^ Petrini and Watson (eds) (2001) Slow Food: Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition and the Honest Pleasures of Food, Chelsea Green, p.164
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
mcmichaelwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Naylor, Tony (31 March 2014). "How to eat: a ploughman's lunch". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2019.