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There are many cheeses and many varieties of pickles in the world, and yet a cheese and pickle sandwich refers specifically to Cheddar and Branston pickle. This jarred pickle of chopped vegetables in a viscous, acidic goo can be a bit one-note, if we’re being honest. She’s not been well represented on the internet, either. The Wikipedia entry for a cheese and pickle sandwich boldly states that it is named so due to its resemblance to a Ploughman’s lunch, which makes us sad for the person who, one day, sat down to the sparsest Ploughman’s ever served. No-one is calling a cheese and pickle sandwich a Ploughman’s sandwich. A Ploughman’s sandwich contains other salad such as lettuce and tomato alongside the cheese and pickle. What is wrong with people?!
Both wholemeal and white sliced bread will work here, as will a rustic bap/barm/cob/roll whatever you call it. A baguette wouldn’t be unreasonable! But straying further than France would be foolish. Foolish!
It’s quite simple: there is cheese and there is pickle. However, we also think there should be butter. Two choices should then be made. The first is: small or large chunk Branston. Smooth isn’t even as option? The second choice is: sliced or grated cheese. We are fans of small ‘chunk x grated’ but, we do not judge.
Firstly, no one is ever going to make homemade Branston. They’re just not. Secondly, we couldn’t give you a recipe for a straight up cheese and pickle sandwich, so we begin with a Ploughman’s.
Ploughman’s Sandwich
Serves 1 Serve with a wedge of pork pie and an ale for extra points. You could also replace the mayonnaise with butter. You could also replace the Branston with piccalilli.
2 slices thick Farmhouse white (see newsletter 01 for Rebecca Spaven’s perfect white loaf recipe)
2 slices thickly cut ham
A few slices of good Cheddar
Branston pickleÂ
Mayonnaise or butterÂ
1 pickled onion, sliced
A handful of celery leaves
1 tomato, slicedÂ
This is quite a simple assembly job. The mayonnaise and Branston obviously go on separate slices of bread. Don’t be weird!
Brie, Bacon and Pickled Grape
Serves 1 This is a riff on the 90s classic, Brie and bacon! Were you there too? She came out of nowhere but for a solid 5 or so years she was found in many sandwich shops, certainly around the south west of England. A sturdy salad leaf was topped with salty bacon, on top of which was slightly melted Brie, or in some cases, fully grilled. It was so wrong it was right. We’ve added quick pickled grapes.
1 small baguette or length of baguette
4 rashers smoked streaky or back bacon
BrieÂ
Pickled grapes
1 small bunch grapes, halvedÂ
40ml rice vinegar
90ml hot tap water
1 tablespoon caster sugar
0.5 tablespoons fine sea salt
Combine all the pickle ingredients except the grapes and mix until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the grapes and leave to pickle for 1 hour, if you have time.
Fry the bacon to your liking - it’s important to fry it, as the bread will be dipped in the frying pan.
Remove the bacon and drain on kitchen paper, then dip the bread into the fat left behind in the pan.
Slice the Brie and place on top of the bacon, then flash under a hot grill to melt the cheese slightly.
Top with quick pickled grapes, and serve!
Some ideas for adventures in cheese and pickle.
Gorgonzola and giadiniera
Cheese on toast with quick pickled chillies
Cheese (potentially ham also) and picallili
Indian mixed vegetable pickle and cheese toastie