The Hungry Poet: My Life in Food — The Slow Art of Porridge, Quickly

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I know what you might be thinking... porridge!? First of he's writing about chicken and mushroom Pot Noodles and now it's porridge! Hardly Elizabeth David or Jane Grigson is he? Well, that may well be the case, and in fact, I'd never claim to be of the same stature as those wonderful food writers, but I'm becoming quite zealous about porridge. I have it every morning.

What's Wrong with Weetabix?

Well, nothing. And it's a damn sight more healthy than a lot of other processed cereals which seriosuly pack in the sugar, in a very sneaky way, which leaves you at about 9.30am already starving for lunch and feeling a big sugar-low. I used to have about 2 or 3 Weetabix (es?) for breakfast for years, until I moved onto porridge. I started with overnight oats, as I read these were even healthier and I like the idea of using a little Kilner jar to eat my breakfast from every morning. I read up on Dr Bircher and his methods and philosophy and really bought into it... in the way anyone can buy into overnight oats. And I did like these, but mayeb they'll be better in the summer when the weather is warmer, as I'm currently loving the warming effect of hot porridge in the morning, even if it is just made in the microwave. It's warm and comforting which feels like a luxury at breakfast time, despite the fact porridge is an incredibly humble, wholesome type of dish. In fact, I think that's what I love about it: it's an unshowy breakfast dish, incredibly simple, but also, in its own frugal Scottish way, whisper it, quite luxurious.

Recipe and Method

If you want to know, I choose Flahavan's Jumbo Organic Oats (about 3 tablespoons - I don't measure - just do it all by eye and feel). I first of all add water, a generous splash (sorry about not being specific but I think when it comes to porridge you just have to, in the words of Radiohead, feel it in your bones) and let the oats soak for about a minute, stirring them as I do this. You'll soon notice the water turn a milky colour - this is oat milk. I let it do this first as I think that, just as hydrating flour when baking bread, it's important to hydrate the oats. I have no science to back this up but it just seems like common sense to me. They are incredibly dry so adding water is surely bound to get them going and start to get ready for cooking. Once I'm happy with how hydrated they are, I then add enough milk (using semi-skimmed but if I'm feeling a bit fancy then whole milk) to cover the oats by about half a centimetre. Now, in the mornings I'm usually getting the boys ready for school and have about a million things to seem to get done in about 30 minutes, so I'm afraid to tell all you porridge puritans out there that I do use the microwave. I put the bowl in, uncovered, for exactly two minutes, bring it out, give it a stir, and then I may add some more milk depending on whether it looks a bit claggy. Clagginess is what you don't want with porriddge. Creaminess - yes. Clagginess - no.

Additions?

Now, I'm aware that porridge puritans, as I shall call them just use water, salt and oats, and while I do love the idea of this and will try it, I'm enjoying my mix of water and milk at the minute. In terms of additional toppings, in all honesty, I tend to keep it simple as the oats I buy are very flavoursome and I really want to taste the oats , but I'm not averse to adding banana and peanut butter, not least for the energy properties of banana and the protein of the nut butter, but the peanut butter also adds a nice little salty kick which I love. The only problem is that peanut butter can crank up the clag-factor, so you might want to loosen the porridge before you add this. It's such a nutritional, wholesome, energy boosting start to the day (fibre, minerals and vitamins) and doesn't have you reaching for sugary biscuits all morning to get you through to lunchtime. It's a wonder and I'll look forward to refining my recipe through the months and years, no doubt - so, stay tuned for my porridge diaries.

The World Porridge Awards... Seriously?

Yes, seriously. This (see below) is exactly my kind of geeky, nerdy competition, with people who are passionate about a really niche thing like porridge making get together to find out whose tiny tweaks and adaptations make for the best porridge. I'm including a link at the bottom here to 'The Golden Spurtle' a film about these championships which came out just earlier this year.