In the 60's/70's, a strange thing arrived in London pubs.
They called it "Ploughman's Lunch" and it was intended as a sort of replacement for the good old fashioned sandwich, to be drunk with beer, and to give the "punter" the feeling he was doing something good for his body and soul - like a trip to the countryside!
He could almost smell the straw, the corn being harvested, but not the pigsty - and images of "landgirls" shot through his mind - not images of ploughmen!
Fashion took over, and beer was subsituted more and more by wine, particularly by the city version of those buxom country girls who were always "dallying" with the local ploughmen!
Never wondered why so many pubs in Britain are called "The Ploughman's Arms"?
Personally I never saw a ploughman who got all this for lunch (but then - I've never met a ploughman)
The British beleived it was a British invention and were proud of their countryside being consumed in the Metropole!
In fact, the thing has existed for centuries! In Germany it's called "Zweites Frühstück" (meaning "second breakfast" ) and in France as "casse croute" (meaning "break the crust")
In both these countries, it is eaten as a supplementary meal, not as a replacement for Lunch, generally when the fancy comes, but 7 and 10am. The origins are from market workers and fishermen who start work so early that when they are finished, they're starving hungry, but it's nowhere near Lunchtime... then it simply became habit and tradition!
In France, it is mainly an "informal" affair, one of the group is sent out to buy the necessary, and then it is consumed in the bar. The bar owner normally goes along with it because he is generally invited to "casse la croute" and in any case, he knows that unlimited quantities of mainly Red wine will be imbibed - payable to him!
iwmpop (mr le marquis) - Vauvert, France - Octobre 2010
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