The Trough — Pembroke College Menu

A minimal, mobile-first Next.js web app that shows today's Pembroke College servery ("the trough") menu at a glance.

Features

• 3-week rotation — automatically calculates the correct week for Lent 2026 term dates
• Weekday view — shows both Lunch and Dinner services
• Weekend view — shows Brunch only (with pudding and sides)
• Out-of-term — friendly "no menu today" message
• Dietary badges — V (vegetarian) and VE (vegan) flags on every applicable dish
• Server-rendered — always reflects the current day; no client-side JS required
• PWA-ready — add to Home Screen on iOS/Android for instant daily access

Term schedule (Lent 2026)

Calendar weeks commencing	Rotation week
19 Jan, 9 Feb, 2 Mar	Week 1
26 Jan, 16 Feb, 9 Mar	Week 2
2 Feb, 23 Feb, 16 Mar	Week 3

Project structure

src/
├── app/
│   ├── globals.css        # Minimal global styles
│   ├── layout.tsx         # Root layout + metadata
│   └── page.tsx           # Main page (server component)
├── data/
│   └── menuData.json      # All three weeks' menu data
└── lib/
    ├── dietaryFlags.ts    # Curated V/VE flags for every dish
    └── getMenu.ts         # Core rotation + lookup logic

Local development

npm install
npm run dev          # starts on http://localhost:3000

Deploy to Vercel (one click)

1. Push this repo to GitHub
2. Go to vercel.com/new and import the repo
3. No environment variables needed — click Deploy

The app uses force-dynamic rendering so Vercel re-renders on every request, keeping the date accurate without any caching issues.

Updating the menu

Menu data lives in src/data/menuData.json. Each day has a lunch (or brunch on weekends) and dinner object:

{
  "studentSpecial": "...",
  "alternativeDish": "...",
  "allergenFriendly": "...",
  "pudding": "...",
  "sides": ["..."]
}

Dietary flags are maintained separately in src/lib/dietaryFlags.ts — add any new dish name alongside "v" or "ve".

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Not an official Pembroke College service. Menu data sourced from Pembroke College Catering.