Porridge

• 1. Introduction

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  Porridge was in the stomachs of Neolithic bog bodies found in Central Europe and Scandinavia, and those bodies are about 5,000 years old. The meal they ate last was oat porridge. At its simplest, porridge is a soft, thick dish made by soaking, poaching or boiling crushed, ground or chopped starchy plants, usually grain, in milk or water. That plain idea has fed people for thousands of years. It raises some odd questions. How can one word cover a bowl of Scottish oats, a Chinese rice dish topped with preserved eggs, and an Ethiopian holiday breakfast? Why did a humble breakfast also become slang for a prison sentence? And can a bowl of oats really change what is in your blood?

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• 2. One Word, Many Bowls

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  In Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, the word porridge means oatmeal and nothing else. In North America the same dish is called oatmeal, and Americans may also call oat or wheat porridge hot cereal. Elsewhere the word stretches much further. Rice, wheat, barley, corn, triticale and buckwheat all make porridge. Many versions carry their own names, such as congee for rice, polenta for maize and poi for taro. Thin versions have names too. Gruel is the watery kind, often drunk rather than eaten with a spoon. Congee is the savoury cousin of Asian origin. Sweet or savoury is a matter of taste. Cooks add sugar, honey, fruit or syrup on one side, and spices, meat or vegetables on the other. Porridge suits any meal of the day, and many cultures eat it as a snack as well as at breakfast, lunch or dinner. The next question is how old this habit really is.

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• 3. A Staple Through Time

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  Archaeologists have found evidence of porridge in Denmark dating to 4200 B.C. or earlier. Once Neolithic societies took up grain farming, porridge became a common sight in their kitchens. Scotland came to own the oat version. Oats reached the country around 600 AD, and they grew well on poor upland soil, which may explain the bond. Pots dug up in the Outer Hebrides held traces of barley porridge about 2,500 years old. Across Northern Europe and Russia, porridge was mostly a savoury meal. Barley was the usual grain, though yellow peas could stand in. Cooks stirred in meat, root crops, vegetables and herbs. A large metal kettle sat over hot coals, or a cheaper clay pot was heated by dropping in hot stones. Porridge held its place until leavened bread and baking ovens spread through Europe. In ancient Rome, people ate frumenty, a boiled wheat porridge sometimes mixed with fruit or meat. They also ate milium in aqua, a millet porridge made with goat's milk. During the Napoleonic Wars, Royal Navy cooks served sailors a breakfast called burgoo, made from coarse oatmeal and water. Porridge was also the standard breakfast for inmates in the British prison system. That is why serving a sentence became known as doing porridge.

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• 4. Corn and Millet Traditions

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  In Mexico, atole is corn flour stirred into water or milk, and champurrado is its chocolate version. Filipino cooks make a similar dish called tsampurado, using rice instead of maize. Italy gave the world polenta, cooked until firm enough to be sliced. In the southern United States, grits are ground hominy, traditionally served with butter, salt and black pepper. The Canary Islands have gofio, a porridge of toasted coarse-ground maize, which travelled with Canary Islanders who emigrated. French-Canadian Voyageurs lived on rubaboo, a mixture of dried maize, peas and animal fat. American colonists boiled cornmeal with milk into suppawn, better known as hasty pudding. The Māori people of New Zealand ferment corn to make kānga pirau. In El Salvador, shuco was traditionally drunk from a hollowed gourd early in the morning, especially by someone coming home from a hunting or drinking trip. Millet fed other parts of the world. Foxtail millet porridge is a staple in northern China. Pearl millet porridge is the staple in Niger and the surrounding Sahel. The Ainu of northern Japan eat munchiro sayo. In Tamil Nadu, a millet porridge called koozh is sold commonly. A ragi version called jaava is a summer breakfast among Telugu speakers in India.

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• 5. The World of Congee

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  Rice porridge may be the most varied family of all. The Mandarin name is zhou and the Cantonese is juk. Toppings include century egg, salted duck egg, pork, cilantro, fried wonton noodles or deep-fried dough strips called you tiao. In Nanjing, a classic bowl called Meiling porridge combines rice, yam and soya-milk. It is named after Soong Mei-ling. Japanese kayu is seasoned with salt and green onions. Thailand has khao tom, also called jok, often served with preserved duck eggs and sliced chili. Vietnamese cháo is cooked in beef or chicken stock with fish sauce and ginger. In the Philippines, lugaw or arroz caldo contains ginger and sometimes saffron, and it is common street food. Indonesians call it bubur and make versions with coconut milk, with mung beans, or with chicken. In Bangladesh, plain rice porridge called jao is the wholesome food given to the sick. Sweet versions called kheer and paiesh are eaten as dessert. Sweet rice porridge turns up in colder places too. In Scandinavia, riskrem is a Christmas dessert of cold rice porridge folded into whipped cream. In the United Kingdom, a tinned rice dessert called Ambrosia Creamed Rice has been sold since 1937.

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• 6. Beyond Grain Bowls

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  In Ethiopia, genfo is a thick porridge made from lightly roasted, milled grains and legumes, eaten with spiced clarified butter or the chili blend berbere. It is a popular Sunday and holiday breakfast, and it is often given to women who are pregnant or have just given birth. A thinner drinkable cousin, atmit, is favoured in the rainy season and for nursing the sick. Besso, made from roasted ground barley, was a snack for travellers and, in olden times, foot soldiers. The Gurage and other southern peoples ferment it for a few days into an energising drink. In Tibet, tsampa is toasted barley flour mixed with tea and butter. West Africans soak garri, a flour made from cassava root, in water or milk. In Nigeria, the words porridge and pottage mean the same thing, and yam porridge called asaro is a main meal with tomatoes and sometimes fish or meat. Eastern Europeans eat kasha, and English speakers often use that word for buckwheat porridge. In Norway, cooks make porridge from potatoes, from sour cream and wheat flour, and from a butter and flour roux. In Finland and Russia, tiny pearls of potato starch swell in milk to make helmipuuro.

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• 7. Oats Under the Microscope

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  A bowl of oat porridge depends heavily on how the oats are cut. Whole oats are called groats. Cut into two or three pieces, they are known as pinhead, steel-cut or coarse oatmeal. Steamed and flattened, they become rolled oats, with jumbo as the largest size. Bigger pieces give more texture. It is said that the body breaks steel-cut oats down more slowly than rolled oats, which may blunt blood sugar spikes and keep eaters full longer. The US Consumer Reports website found that more cooking gave a stronger oat flavour and a less mushy bowl. Scottish traditionalists allow only oats, water and salt. Other cooks use milk, cream, Demerara sugar, golden syrup, Greek yoghurt or honey. Presoaking is a popular tip, though one comparative test found little difference. Plain cooked oatmeal is 84% water. A 100 g serving provides 71 calories and 26% of the Daily Value for manganese. A 2014 review linked at least 3 grams of oat beta-glucan a day to cholesterol falls of 5-10%. In 2015 the US Food and Drug Administration allowed health claims on foods with soluble fiber from whole oats. To qualify, a serving must provide at least 0.75 grams of soluble fiber.

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