Flip's Five-grain Porridge
THE PORRIDGE PROFILE - the nitty gritty on grains
Flip Shelton's five-grain porridge combines rolled oats, rye, barley, triticale and spelt. While these whole grains are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates - which gives you are sustained energy release - each one of the grains brings something different nutritionally to the table. And with only 180 calories per serve, Flip Shelton's five-grain porridge is perfect for the hips.
Rye is high in protein containing approximately 15 g per 100 g.
Triticale, which is a cross between wheat (Triticum) and rye (Secale) hence the name, is also high in fibre containing 16 g per 100 g.
Spelt is an ancient grain. It has been harvested since Roman times and today retains much of its original character including less gluten than its modern cousins making it easily digested.
Rye, triticale and barley have less than 3 g of fat per 100 g and less than half a gram of saturated fat.
Rolled oats are the traditional grain used to make porridge. Rolled oats contain plenty of the B Vitamins, some Vitamin E, as well as loads of calcium, potassium and magnesium. Rolled oats have medicinal powers too. They are believed to help reduce cholesterol. Many naturopaths recommend them to alleviate depression, digestive problems, fatigue and stress. They also are recommended to improve sex drive... that's the oats, not the naturopaths!
In this mix, quick oats and barley have been added to contribute to the lovely textural sensation to wake tastebuds and bodies from the deepest of slumbers in the morning.
All of the flakes - oats, rye, barley, triticale and spelt- have been produced by steaming the whole grain and then rolling it flat so it retains all the original nutrients in particular fibre which is often removed from processed cereal products.
THE HISTORY OF PORRIDGE - once upon a time
Porridge has been around for yonks and is most strongly associated with the Scots but the Welsh often ate oats, too.
Dr (Samuel) Johnson's 18th Century dictionary definition of oats reads "a grain which in England is given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people." And was in fact a dig at them.
There are many traditions and myths surround the making of porridge. Some say the oatmeal was to be added in batches, some say at the beginning and some say it ought to be added half way through the cooking to produce a nuttier flavour and interesting texture.
Some say that porridge should be allowed to stand and than be re-heated, others say that it should be made the day before it is to be eaten.
There was a belief that porridge should only be stirred in a clockwise direction using the right hand so you didn't evoke the 'devil'.
Porridge was often spoken of as 'they' and an old custom states that it should be eaten standing up and using a bone spoon.
To eat, a bowl of porridge was cupped in cold hands to warm them, and each spoonful of steaming porridge was dipped into a cup of cold milk, cream or buttermilk before eating.
Oats were also cooked and poured into a mould - sometimes even a drawer, and allowed to set. The solid oat slab (perhaps the earliest incarnations of oat biscuits or muesli slice!) were then sliced and taken to work to be eaten through the day.
While oats are considered a relative newcomer to modern day agriculture, the first traces of cultivation of wild strains date from about 1000 BC in Europe.
The Greeks and Romans found the grain coarse and inedible and dubbed it 'barbarian's food' and fed it to their animals. They did however plant and harvest oat crops in Britain where it became eaten widely in Wales and even more so in Scotland - hence Dr Johnson's jibe.
Oats were introduced to America by Scottish immigrants. They were first grown in Massachusetts in 1602 and early recipes have a strong Scottish influence, but it wasn't until the mid-19th century when the means of making porridge quickly, by using oat flakes, that saw the breakfast dish gain in popularity.
In 1877, the Quaker Oat Company developed the method of cutting, steaming and rolling the oats to create oat flakes or rolled oats as we best know them today.
Marian McNeill wrote in her 1929 recipe book "The Scot's Kitchen", 'the one and only method' for making porridge. She recommends the cook be 'very particular about the quality of the oatmeal. Midlothian oats are reputed to be unsurpassed but the small Highland oats are very sweet.'
Her instructions are to bring the water to the boil, and then add coarse oatmeal, 'in a steady rain from the left hand, stirring it briskly the while with the right, sunwise, are with the right hand turn for luck - and convenience.'
Once the porridge has returned to the boil, it should be cooked slowly for 20-30 minutes, using a special stick known as a spurtle or theevil, to stir.
It's during cooking that the starches in the oats soften, resulting in the thick and creamy textured mixture.
Porridge certainly has a long and interesting history.
Of course porridge became immortalised with thanks to English poet Robert Southey's 1837 prose of The Story of the Three Bears (although it's believed there are even earlier variations) and later published in "Old Nursery Stories and Rhymes" in 1904 as Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
