Making a traditional bowl of porridge might seem like a bo-brainer, but most of us are probably doing it wrong. (Depending on who you ask.)
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Sydney chef Toby Wilson is Australia’s current top-ranked porridge maker, and he says a great-tasting bowl of porridge requires only three ingredients, and one of them isn’t milk.
How to make porridge
In fact, Toby was a finalist in the 2022 world porridge-making championships, where contestants try to take home the award for best porridge. But there’s a catch. They can only use water, untreated oatmeal and salt.
As the rules on the Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship website says:
“The World Porridge Making Championship® title and the Golden Spurtle® will be awarded to the competitor producing the best traditional porridge, made from oatmeal [pinhead, course, medium or fine].
“The traditional porridge must be made with untreated oatmeal (not with oat flakes/rolled oats) and with only water and salt added. Any porridge made with oats other than oatmeal will be disqualified. Competitors, who prefer to ‘soak’ their oatmeal, may do so, but no prior cooking is allowed.”
The Porridge Making Championship takes place in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland.
Speaking to The Guardian about his porridge-making process, Toby says quick and instant oats are “flatter in flavour”.
Instead, try using store-bought steel-cut oats cooked with filtered water and salt.
Toby tells the publication he uses whatever vessel he can find to measure the ingredients. “I use whatever I can find. A teacup? Cool. It’s a teacup of oats to three teacups of water,” he says.
He adds: “I like it like pretty salty … the flavour of going for a run and the sweat falls into your mouth.”
How to cook porridge
Throw it all into a saucepan and heat until it starts to simmer. Turn it down and stir until they are cooked through.
Toby says he likes to serve his porridge with a knob of butter and brown sugar.
But leave the banana and berries out.
“The porridge [is] the show itself,” says Toby. “Not a vehicle for bananas, nuts, berries, honey, all that kind of stuff.”
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