Scotland wins back world porridge prize - thanks to innovative Spoon

SCOTLAND has retaken the title for the best porridge in the world - and it was all down the to the spoon. After losing the World Porridge Making Championship last year to the United States, the crown returned to Scotland thanks to a chef and inventor of a double-backed spoon.

• Neil Robertson of the Tannochbrae Tearooms shows off his Golden Spurtle in Carrbridge yesterday. Picture: Paul Campbell Photography

Neil Robertson, owner of the Tannochbrae Tearoom in Auchtermuchty, Fife, created the world's best porridge yesterday afternoon in the 17th run of the event in the Highland village of Carrbridge.

Competitors from the the US, Sweden, Canada, England and across Scotland were challenged to make both traditional recipes and speciality dishes, which have included fish and risotto in previous years.

Mr Robertson, 53, said: "It's brilliant bringing the title home for Scotland. It was a wake-up call last year to see how seriously porridge is taken across Scotland and around the world.

"This year we found a local source of water called Lady Mary's Well. Lady Mary wasn't really a lady - she ran an illicit still around Burns' time and when the excise guys caught up with her, they smashed all her stock and filled in the cave. The story is the whiskey is still seeping down.

"The double-backed spoon I invented - the Spon - works almost like a mortar and pestle at first. It puts more air into the mixture and makes it lighter and fluffier."

Mr Robertson said the perfect bowl of porridge requires precision with measuring ingredients which should be put cold into the pan. He said the mixture should be gently brought to a boil and always stirred clockwise, "because if you stir anti-clockwise you let the devil in". It should take about nine minutes in a conventional warm kitchen.

He added: "Just watch it until it starts to do that popping thing, and don't add the salt until the end."

Other competitors included 2009 winner Matthew Cox from Bob's Red Mill, Portland, Oregon, hoping to defend his title, and the 2009 speciality winner, Anna Louise Batchelor, who impressed judges with her Spotted Dick Porridge Pudding.

Pia Redin of Sweden joined the competition after taking the first Nordic Oatmeal Cooking Competition, and Patrick Potter, of oatmeal giant Real Foods USA was also a competitor.

Carrbridge man Ian Bishop, who competes every year and was the last Scot to win the title in 2008, also vied for the Golden Spurtle prize.

Judging panel chairman George McIvor said the 2010 contest was the closest run yet.The event started with a pipe band parade of competitors and officials followed by the traditional Toast to the Porridge.

The judges were Mr McIvor, Colin Bussey from the Master Chefs of Great Britain and a guest judge, columnist and author Tom Shields.

Yesterday also marked World Porridge Day, when fans from around the world celebrate their favourite dish and raise funds in aid of Mary's Meals, a Scottish charity which feeds more than 400,000 of the poorest children across the globe.