Porridge made from oats is primarily associated with Scotland, and has been eaten at breakfast for centuries. Oats provide the nutrients that make porridge a nutritious breakfast option.
00:00Porridge is one of the oldest and one of the simplest dishes.
00:07Perfection.
00:09It's been on the human menu since the Neolithic age with only three ingredients.
00:15Oats, water and salt. Good.
00:20So what makes porridge such a popular dish worldwide?
00:25It has been just a wonderful staple diet.
00:29It's kept us going for the last 60 plus years.
00:34But is it actually healthy?
00:39Cereal porridge made from various main ingredients, like corn, barley or wheat, is eaten all over the world.
00:47Or it's made from rice, like in Thailand.
00:50But porridge made from oats is primarily associated with Scotland.
00:54It has been eaten here for breakfast for centuries.
00:57And the version that Kenny Paterson offers in his Bed and Breakfast in Melrose, not far from Edinburgh, is even recommended by the Scottish Tourist Board.
01:06Porridge is the perfect start to the day because it's full of nutrients and sustains you with energy for the bulk of the day.
01:15It's a very simple dish, but the devil is in the details.
01:19We use oats, either oat flakes or oatmeal for a slightly firmer textured porridge.
01:32Kenny cooks the oat flakes in twice the amount of water for five minutes, stirring well.
01:41In Scotland, porridge is traditionally stirred with a wooden stick called a spirtle, but don't stir the wrong way round.
01:47To stir the porridge, we use a wooden spirtle, and we'd stir it in a clockwise direction to keep the devil out the porridge.
01:57Rumour has it that the devil is in oats, but if you keep on stirring it clockwise, it disappears along with the steam.
02:07A little salt and the porridge is ready. You think anyone can do that? Maybe, but Kenny's standards are high.
02:18I like porridge to be smooth, creamy, without any cream, and just slightly salty flavour.
02:26But as long as the oats come through with the main flavour, and that's close on perfection.
02:31Oats have long been cultivated in Scotland, as the grain copes well with the cool and damp Scottish climate.
02:42Oats provide the nutrients that make porridge a nutritious breakfast option.
02:49It's a very slow-energy-releasing cereal. It reduces the risk of heart disease.
02:55A lot of people that are into extreme sports and exercises are using oats and starting off the day with porridge.
03:03But I mean, us Scots, we've known about that for a thousand years, so it's nothing new.
03:10In nearby Kelso, oats have been produced for centuries.
03:14The grains go through various stages to become the final product.
03:18We kiln-dry the oats down to 3% moisture. We then shell them and we end up with what is called a groat.
03:32We then cut that groat to pinhead oatmeal.
03:36And this pinhead can then be steamed and flaked again to produce what we traditionally know as Scots porridge oats.
03:44At Kenny's Bed and Breakfast, the basic porridge is transformed into colourful creations with berries, fruit and cream.
03:54Real eye-catchers on the breakfast table. Kenny himself prefers it simpler.
04:01Plain porridge with a dash of cream on it is the way that I would eat it. Sublime. It tastes sublime.
