Talk:Ploughman's lunch

Etymology?
The article on "Ploughman's lunch" states flatly that the term is "a late 1970's invention of the UK catering industry."

If this is so, why can I find US newspaper cites dating from 1964, talking about "ploughman's lunch" and describing the meal. It was almost certainly a pub meal. I have no doubt that the pubs invented the phrase in the 20th century, but certainly the "UK catering industry" in the late 1970's had no part in it's inception.

Sam Clements —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.166.33.12 (talk • contribs) 02:43, 1 October 2004

I'm not expert, but I thought a ploughman's lunch includes a stiff ale. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.239.210.166 (talk • contribs) 22:31, 3 October 2004

The late 1970s is two decades off the mark. The ploughman's lunch, as I stated years ago in Talk, was created by the Milk Marketing Board in the UK in the late 1950s/early 1960s due to a surplus of dairy products/milk at that time - the oft-quoted "Dairy Mountain." Many people who studied marketing and business at university in the 1980s will be familiar with this, and it is verifiable in text books I no longer have. Surely someone can cite one? Guv2006 (talk) 09:05, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

The Milk Marketing Board
I'm fairly sure that the Ploughman's Lunch was invented in the 1960s by the UK Milk Marketing Board in an effort to increase cheese sales. This explains its total absence outside the UK (compare other traditional fayre such as fish and chips or roast beef, which you can find outside the UK).

--Smallbone10 20:48, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

You are one hundred per cent correct. Guv2006 (talk) 09:06, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

Ham?
Why is there a pic of a pair of horses? Pretty useless pic tbh. 131.111.200.200wikibaron131.111.200.200

meat?
I think that slices of meat and some lettuce is normally includes also. Alan2here (talk) 16:35, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Pickle
I think we need to be careful in this article to clarify what is meant by "pickle" or "pickles", as either of these could refer to relish (which is called "pickle" in the UK, such as that made by Branston) or a pickled cucumber (which is called a "pickle" in the US and Canada). Are pickled cucumbers ever used in ploughmen's lunches, in the same way that pickled onions are? As it is, this remains unclear in the article, and I don't know either way. leevclarke (talk) 21:45, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that British pickle is quite the same as "relish" in other countries. Do we have a consensus? 86.5.68.172 (talk) 18:00, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Apologies, last comment by me Gavinayling (talk) 18:01, 16 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, it fits the definition of relish perfectly. Relish is different in different countries though. Logical Cowboy (talk) 18:54, 16 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Still, right now the article is including pickles in the main definition as chutney. I think the US version of a ploughman's lunch usually DOES involve a pickled cucumber, with cheese and bread. I realize this article is mostly about the UK version; the call for clarification by Leevclarke was quite perspicacious; still, I'd support using pickle in the initial definition, followed by a more detailed explanation of pickled cucumbers, pickled onions, or pickled-vegetables-made-into-chutney later on in the article. 76.179.173.45 (talk) 05:48, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

Worms
The statement "The feast may also include worms" is, I suspect, vandalism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.79.100.238 (talk) 14:20, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

Served with a pint of beer
"It is a common menu item in English pubs, where it is served with a pint of beer."

This makes it sound as if you automatically get a beer as part of the meal. I've never seen it included as such - I've always had to buy my beer (or cider, etc) separately Wardog (talk) 19:47, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

If that was the case, you wouldn't want every member of your family getting a ploughman's, would you? Maybe the five-year olds in this scenario would be automatically downgraded to a shandy? (joke). Guv2006 (talk) 09:10, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

Ploughboy?
Surely this is vandalism?

"A comparable meal, popular prior to World War II, was also known as 'ploughboy's lunch".

If there had been something called a "ploughboy's lunch" prior to World War II, why would the Milk Marketing Board have felt the need to invent the ploughman's? This seems to be a complete fabrication. Guv2006 (talk) 21:19, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Variants
Also strange - and suspect - are the almost endless and silly variants listed in the main article. Are people just adding ingredients for fun? For example, would this be acceptable?

Thick slice of cheese; half a loaf of crusty bread; six small pickled onions; a raw carrot to dunk in a pot of salad cream; a small serving of Hula Hoops; some cold chips; and a pickled gherkin on a cocktail stick? Washed down with a flagon of Tizer, obviously. It seems to me that people have been adding ingredients for a laugh. Guv2006 (talk) 21:36, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

What is the "Cheese Bureau"?
Is that like a ministry of cheese? Or more like a secret sevice agency? I find the thought of these chuckle worthy. Or is it just some part of a dairy compony? Anyway I couldn't find anything about it, so maybe it could be explained or rephrased in the article?! --Xario (talk) 08:54, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Well, you can't have looked far, because the CB clearly existed. Nick Cooper (talk) 10:50, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Appreciated. And in my defense, google:"Cheese Bureau" did not look promising. --Xario (talk) 15:37, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Ploughman's lunch. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20070708181211/http://oed.com/bbcwords/ploughman-new.html to http://www.oed.com/bbcwords/ploughman-new.html

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Onion? Really?
Very surprised to see onion mentioned as a prime ingredient, as I’ve rarely seen it served. Pickle always, though. I’ll change the article accordingly in a few days or so unless there are objections. Boscaswell  talk  00:56, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Bread, cheese and onions (fresh or pickled) are the consistent basic ingredients and also link the meal to the food typically served in pubs in the early 20th century and earlier. Sources: "The authentic ploughman's lunch comprises a chunk of Cheddar cheese, pickled onion and bread" (Hotelier and Caterer) or Adrian Bell's "good square hunk of bread, a lump of butter and a wedge of cheese, and pickled onions", another one: "a ploughman's lunch is made up of fresh bread, hard cheese, onion and pickles" ; "The Ploughman's Lunch of bread, cheese, onions and ale..." (Hessayon).Svejk74 (talk) 15:53, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Baguette? Really?
The photo shows a ploughman's with, somewhat incongruously, a decapitated Baguette. Baguettes are French. They are as British as Chow Mein. A photo of a "texbook" ploughman's should really have a few "trenchant" slices of a traditionally British loaf, particularly the rustic types such as a Cottage Loaf rather than this Gallic interloper. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.93.146.80 (talk) 16:49, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

Girl Dinner
Sorry if this is silly, but it seems like the modern term "girl dinner" is very similar to the idea of a ploughman's lunch- is it worth noting that? perhaps there could be a section including other cultures' cold lunches made up of assorted items, or modern interpretations of this- maybe even the lunchable. Ellacution (talk) 22:03, 8 June 2024 (UTC)