Porridge - plain and simple

If you’re ever here in Mole Creek for Sunday breakfast, you’ll never need to ask what’s on the menu. It’ll be porridge. Every Sunday. Plain and simple. This ritual began years ago. I’ve loved porridge since I was a nipper. Most likely because it’s simple, nutritious and filling. Another factor could be my Scots name (i.e. Ross). Porridge’s the traditional breakfast of Scotland, of course. During our 1998 bicycle tour, Sweetheart Vivienne and I stayed in a B&B in Thurso. The owner asked what I’d like for breakfast, and I enthusiastically replied ‘porridge’ to which he retorted ‘we don’t have that here – I’ll give you Coco Pops’. Fie! Last week Dorothy, who lives in Glasgow, visited us for lunch. She said she eats porridge for breakfast every single day. That’s the spirit. Scotland the Brave rides again. Even though Scottish porridge oats are steel-cut whereas in England and Australia they’re flattened between rollers, anyone who eats porridge is a mate of mine. As I said, I like my porridge plain and simple: per person ½ a cup of oats and 1¼ cups of water heated gently (naturally a wood-fired stove’s best) and stirred frequently (I yearn for a spurtle) until the right texture’s reached. I don’t add salt. Once it’s in the bowl, I sprinkle on currants and raw sugar; and I sometimes add chopped fruit and/or a spoon of honey. Yum.

P.S. Bonney has oats each day. Hers are raw. She loves them. Is Bonney a Scottish name?