Oats are still a popular food from Sligo in Connaught, north
into Ulster and, of course, in Scotland. Oats come in a variety of
forms; this recipe is for medium ground oatmeal. Oatmeal is a
different product than the now more common oat flakes or rolled
oats. In my opinion, oatmeal is a much tastier food, once I had my
first bowl of oatmeal in Scotland; it was very hard to go back to
using rolled oats. Fortunately, good quality real oatmeal is
available in many of the nicer grocery stores and whole food
markets. You will find them called Scottish oatmeal or Irish
oatmeal. There is also steel cut oats also called pinhead oats which
requires considerable preparation.
Oatmeal can be made several different ways, in my household we start
them in coldwater and bring them to a gentle simmer. I have also
discovered that there are premium brands of milled oat bran that
make an excellent substitution for oatmeal. They also make an
excellent savory breakfast when served without sugar or honey. I
like them with an extra pinch of sea salt, a ¼ cup or walnuts and
non sweetened applesauce on top. That and a good cup of tea will
make you stand up and do what needs to be done.
The recipe below sent to us by Joe McKane of Ballywatt,
County
Antrim, Ireland.
For
each serving use:
1 cup water
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/8 teaspoon salt
Bring water to a boil, then add salt. Add oatmeal slowly to boiling
water while stirring constantly. Half cover pot, turn heat to low.
Stir occasionally until porridge thickens – close to 30 minutes. Add
more salt if you wish. Usually eaten with cream/milk & sugar to
taste.
The oats were always soaked in the water overnight and a batch
was reheated again the following day. By tradition, porridge was
served with a pinch of salt. Most people today use sugar to sweeten
it now. Porridge was a mainstay in Celtic countries. Today, “quick”
rolled oats are available that will cut the preparation time to
about three minutes.
