Tex's Classic British Pub Ploughman's Lunch 🍞🐷🧀🍺🍲🇬🇧

Name: Tex's Classic British Pub Ploughman's Lunch 🍞🐷🧀🍺🍲🇬🇧
Total time: 1200 s
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 pint cold beer - I'm having Marston's EPA (English Pale Ale); 1-2 crusty cob(s) or a petit pain; 70 grams butter at room-temperature (70 grams = 2½ ounces); 1-2 wedges of your favourite English cheese(s) (I'm using mature Cheddar, but see introduction for list of alternatives); 1 pork pie (Melton Mowbray); 2-3 slices ham; 3-4 pickled silverskin onions; Any other pickles or chutneys you'd like to plate; 1 portion mixed salad; to taste apple wedges (optional); to taste portion of British salad cream to dress (optional)

Tex @cook_3903024

Manchester, England

A very basic, but centuries-old traditional, English packed lunch that was promoted and popularised nationally by the Milk Marketing Board and the Cheese Council (now known as the 'Cheese Board ~ no I'm not kidding) in the 1950s to boost flagging cheese sales after rationing.
Soon after, all English pubs that served food had a Ploughman's on the lunchtime menu.
It's basic recipe is cheese, bread, butter, pickled onions, and ale.

A true traditional Ploughman's uses classic English County cheeses. I like to use several of different colours, textures, strengths, and flavours. Popular cheeses include:
~ Cheddar(s): hard, deep and mellow (varies in strength from 2-5 depending on maturity. Strength of a medium cheddar is 3)
~ Red Leicester: a sweet & nutty cheese (strength: 3)
~ Double Gloucester: a mellow, smooth and buttery cheese (strength: 3)
~ Wensleydale: a crumbly and sweet cheese (strength: 2)
~ Lancashire: soft, open textured cheese with a strong and tangy flavour (strength: 2-3)
~ Cheshire: full fat, hard but crumbly cheese with a mild hint of lemon (strength: 2-3)
~ Stilton: full fat, blue veined, semi-hard cheese (strength: 4)

Additional sides can be added to the basic recipe though. All these variations have been recorded in separate English counties:
~ Gherkins
~ Chutney
~ Cucumber
~ Apple
~ Pickled red cabbage
~ Beetroot
~ Egg
~ Scotch egg
~ Lemon

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Ingredients

20 mins

1 serving

1 pintcold beer - I'm having Marston's EPA (English Pale Ale)
1-2crusty cob(s) or a petit pain
70 gramsbutter at room-temperature (70 grams = 2½ ounces)
1-2wedges of your favourite English cheese(s) (I'm using mature Cheddar, but see introduction for list of alternatives)
1pork pie (Melton Mowbray)
2-3 slicesham
3-4pickled silverskin onions
Any other pickles or chutneys you'd like to plate
1 portionmixed salad
to tasteapple wedges (optional)
to tasteportion of British salad cream to dress (optional)

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Steps

20 mins

1

Because of it's simplicity of ingredients, the keyword to any Ploughman's is 'generosity'. Ask yourself if your Ploughman's is going to be filling enough to keep a hardworking ploughman going for a whole afternoon?
2

This should do it, right?
3

Before you do anything else, pop your beer in the freezer for about 20 minutes to get it good and frosty ❄ Next, cut a good sized wedge from your cheese
4

Add your crusty cob to the plate, unsliced, with the butter. Tiger rolls are also a good alternative, as are sliced baguettes or petit pain
5

Plate up your pickles and/or chutneys. Use toothpicks to make your pickled onions easier to eat. I'm using traditional pickled silverskin onions, and Branston's (ploughman's) pickle. Suggestions for other sides are listed in the introduction at the top of the page.
6

Add the cheese, ham, and salad...
7

Slice a wedge from the pork pie if using, and add to the plate. Strictly speaking, pork pie is not an original component, but it has become a somewhat traditional addition to a Ploughman's, and they taste awesome with cheese and pickle. Besides, there's no hard and fast rules about additions once you have all the classic elements in place (bread, butter, cheese, pickle, and beer)
8

Serve with a fork 🍴 and a cheese knife or a table knife 🔪 capable of cutting the bread, the cheese, and spreading the butter. Apparently the table etiquette with cobs and bread buns is that you should tear them if you're not going to butter them, but slice them if you are. I don't think ploughmen would've paid much attention to etiquette though...
9

...and of course, don't forget your pint of ale, straight from the freezer. 🍻
10

If you want to add a few herbs as a garnish etc., the following all go well with cheese: ~ parsley ~ thyme ~ tarragon ~ marjoram ~ basil And of course dill goes great with pickles, and sage is lovely with onions
11

I'm just dressing with Heinz salad cream...

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Tex @cook_3903024

on June 07, 2016 23:26

Manchester, England

I'm a designer/artist and I learned to cook when I started making my own Chinese food over 30 years ago. I'm a lover of my native British food, but recently I've developed a taste for American comfort food, especially sandwiches and BBQ (watching too much 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives' probably). 😸 Unfortunately, we don't have any independent US-style diners or drive-ins in my neck of the woods, so I had to learn from recipe books and the Food Network. I'll also be publishing some traditional UK classics in case any non-Brits want to have a crack at Brit grub.