P.S.

No-one's given poor mnapoli an answer. I wouldn't have thought it worth going out of one's way, no matter how much one likes cheese. And I doubt if those few of us who have a gourmet appreciation of cheese would expect to find anything special in a pub. Plenty of the OK or good enough, perhaps, with the standard sorts of cheese, but that's about it. But I suppose there may be enthusiasts somewhere with a special local cheese on the menu.

A gourmet ploughman's lunch. Now that's an idea...well maybe not.

This thread, of such humble origins, is one of the more enjoyable in recent memory.

St Mary's sounds like a school for girls, if you ask me.

I can just picture CW in needlework class with a nun peering at his Algerian Eye.

On Patrick's point:

I'd say the answer is actually Whole Foods Mart in the Barker's building in Kensington Higg St.

Though unbelievably awful in practically every possible way, it gets just two things right: its cheese (especially the hard cheeses - British, Swiss and Dutch - that are the centrepiece of a decent ploughman's), and its bread (the cakes in its bakery are those ghastly overcreamed and over-iced monstrosities Americans poison themselves with, but there's some excellent bread). They've also got an adequate selection of proper English bottled beer.

Even at its insane prices, a decent ploughman's for two could be put together for less than a pub would charge you for far worse kept cheese.

Its branded packaged area is so stuffed with those absurd brands with no differnce between each other that I lost the will to live, so I don't know whether they sell proper pickle.

But M&S run a professionally managed food store 50 yards west, with a reasonable range of pickles. Pick up a couple of jars and you can avoid pubfood altogether.

Better yet: go to any good central London farmers' market, do the same thing for a great deal less, and avoid having to read the nonsensical Stalinist propaganda ("We give our staff health benefits") that WFM kid themselves you're so stupid you'll be impressed to find hectoring you.

Righty Ho! Let's nail this puppy good and proper.

Yes people have been eating bread and cheese in pubs for centuries. However I'd put good money on the fact that they weren't eating bread. cheese, half an apple, Branston, celery, bread with bits in and the inevitable garnish of bloody cress and half a lettuce leaf. Served on a wooden plate. By a Pole.

The above is a Ploughman's Lunch (note caps) as devised by people in shiny-arsed suits and Brylcream in the 50s.

As to where to get a good one? God knows, they're all pretty much of a muchness aren't they?

St Mary's sounds like a school for girls, if you ask me.>>>>

Which is why it's no longer called that (well technically it is - but no one uses the name)

>>>I can just picture CW in needlework class with a nun peering at his Algerian Eye.>>>

Is that the same as a Jap's Eye? In which case you know some odd nuns.

It's a needlework stitch!

£5 in the filthy thoughts box, please.

Appropos made up food. When did putting chicken and chips in a basket seem like a good idea?

Quiz question of the week:

Which megastar was once described as an old boiler in a basque?

Madonna?

It's enough to put you off your ploughman's:

http://tinyurl.com/byura9

Or possibly put you off eating anything ever again (especially prawn cocktail flavoured crisps):

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle2175548.ece

"When did putting chicken and chips in a basket seem like a good idea?"

About the same time someone decided you could make a great gateau out of black forest. Or that prawns would make a terrific cocktail alternative to Bloody Marys or Screwdrivers

But Black Forest Gateau is bloody lovely. Prawn cocktail isn't bad either.

I'm also quite partial to sole veronique and duck a l'orange.

I'm a hopeless case.

Black Forest Gateau = yum.

Prawn Cocktail = yuk.

Duck a l'orange = yum.

Sole Veronique = poncy and silly (if it's the one with the grapes)

Yes it's the one with the grapes.

I was recently channel surfing and going through the channels you've never heard of and I came across an episode of The Galloping Gourmet.

How did we survive eating that stuff?

Flanner, I really can't believe that you put so much effort creating such a wonderful answer for such a simple subject.

Well done, but you must have far too much time on your hands.


;-)

Muck

You think the Milk Marketing Board was bad - look what the mighty Jello Lobby foisted upon an unsuspecting USA

http://www.lileks.com/institute/gall...llo/index.html

sorry for the hijack, napoli:

FlannerUK:

I'm still looking for an answer to my question I posted on Chol's "Donetz board"...as follows:

Author: tower
Date: 01/16/2009, 02:23 pm
Flanner:


Curious. What's your problem with Barlad (Birlad)? I've been traveling all of Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria for more than 30 years.

It serves as the key Eastern Romanian town in one of my historical novels, c. early 1900's.
Instead of our further hijacking Chol's dilemma, write me direct, if you will. Thank you for your kindness in doing so.

Stu Tower

[email protected]