Ploughman's Lunch

A ploughman's lunch is an originally British cold meal based around bread, cheese, and fresh or pickled onions. Additional items can be added, such as ham, green salad, hard boiled eggs, and apple, and usual accompaniments are butter and a sweet pickle such as Branston. As its name suggests, it is most commonly eaten at lunchtime. It is particularly associated with pubs, and often served with beer; the saltiness of the cheese was noted to enhance the "relish of the beer."

Branston is an English food brand best known for the original Branston Pickle, a tangy, sweet, and crunchy chutney. Its primary ingredients are diced vegetables—specifically carrots, rutabaga (swede), onions, and cauliflower—mixed with a thick, dark sauce made from malt vinegar, sugar, tomato puree, apple pulp, date paste, and various spices. The pickle was based on the Indian pickles and chutneys that Anglo-Indians had liked during the British Raj. Sailors found that the preserve-like varieties were useful accompaniments to their maritime diet of salt meat and dry ship's biscuit. Quantities were brought home to Britain, soon to be copied by cooks and further modified from the Indian originals. It is frequently combined with cheese in sandwiches.

Bread and cheese formed the basis of the diet of English rural labourers for centuries: skimmed-milk cheese, supplemented with small amounts of lard and/or butter, was their main source of fats and protein. The traditional, rustic ploughman's lunch consists of buttered bread, cheese, a mug of cider, and raw onions. In the absence of access to expensive seasonings, onions were the "favoured condiment", as well as providing a valuable source of vitamin C.

Beer, bread, and cheese have been staples of the British 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 ceased to be rationed following the end of World War II. Its popularity increased as the Milk Marketing Board promoted the meal nationally throughout the 1960s.

Core components

Cheese: A good quality, often sharp, English cheddar is classic, but others like Stilton or Wensleydale are also used.
Bread: Crusty bread is essential, served with butter.
Pickles: Pickled onions and a sweet pickle relish (like Branston pickle) are key.

Common additions
Cold meats: Sliced ham or pork pie.
Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs.
Fruit & vegetables: Apple slices, celery, radishes, or a small salad.
Condiments: Chutney or mustard.

How it's served
It's served cold as a casual lunch or light dinner.
It's often presented as a "composed plate" of separate items rather than mixed together.
It's traditionally enjoyed with a pint of ale or cider.