Name: Cheddar ploughman's (Bristol style)
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: Serves 2
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 250g cave-aged or farmhouse cheddar, in one piece; 4 thick slices of crusty white or sourdough bread; 4 tablespoons ale or apple chutney; 2 pickled onions; 1 crisp eating apple, quartered; A handful of watercress; Salted butter

A board of proper West Country cheddar with bread, pickle, apple and cider on the side, eaten in Bristol's pubs within sight of the county that gave the cheese its name.

Cheddar cheese takes its name from the Somerset gorge village 45 minutes south of Bristol, where cheesemakers matured wheels in the caves from at least the 1100s. The ploughman's lunch as a pub fixture is a 20th-century invention, but Bristol sits closer to the source than any other big city, and its cheesemongers and micropubs treat cave-aged cheddar with the seriousness other cities save for wine.

Where to eat Cheddar ploughman's in Bristol

3 editor picks for Cheddar ploughman's in Bristol, ranked by editorial score. All Bristol signature dishes · Cheddar ploughman's across every city.

The Drapers Arms
- ★ 4.2
- Cocktail bar
- £
- Gloucester Road & Bishopston
Drink Gravity-poured cask ale, no lager, no music
The Drapers Arms is Bristol's first micropub, a one-room former draper's shop on Gloucester Road serving cask ale and conversation, nothing else.

Details Directions
The Cheese Connection
- ★ 4.1
- Deli
- ££
- Harbourside & Wapping Wharf
The Cheese Connection curates South West and British artisan cheese from a Cargo 2 container, Bristol's harbourside cheesemonger with tasting events.

Details Directions
Snuffy Jack's Ale House
- ★ 4.1
- Cocktail bar
- £
- Easton & St Marks Road
Drink A gravity-served stout from the cool room
Snuffy Jack's pours gravity-served casks in a Fishponds micropub named after a snuff-mill ghost, east Bristol's destination for proper quiet ale drinking.

Details Directions

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Make it at home

Serves Serves 215 minEasy

Ingredients

250g cave-aged or farmhouse cheddar, in one piece
4 thick slices of crusty white or sourdough bread
4 tablespoons ale or apple chutney
2 pickled onions
1 crisp eating apple, quartered
A handful of watercress
Salted butter

Method

Take the cheddar out of the fridge an hour ahead; cold cheese hides half its flavour.
Cut the cheese into thick wedges rather than slices, so each bite has the crumbly centre and the denser rind edge.
Butter the bread generously and arrange everything on a board: cheese, chutney, pickled onions, apple and watercress in separate camps.
Serve with a glass of still cider and let everyone build their own bites.

Editor tip. Buy a cloth-bound cheddar from a cheesemonger rather than plastic-wrapped block; the crumble and the sharp finish are the whole point.

Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten.