Good Old Porridge.

The new buzz word in Austria's cereal aisles.

Having lived for so long in South Africa, the term porridge is as ubiquitous to me as Bretzen and butter was during my formative years in Bavaria. Porridge, it's just what one eats or ate. A boarding school staple, not saying that it was always a favourite, it belongs to the breakfast landscape alongside tea, toast and jam.

Of course, to make porridge is dead easy and all one needs are plain oats ( cheaper the better ), water, milk and perhaps a pat of butter. Easy peasy. No great shakes and honestly, a good solid breakfast that fills you up till lunchtime.

The wonderful side effect of it is that it is amazingly healthy. It lowers blood sugar, has much fiber and is fat free. Brilliant and that's where the buzz comes in. Everyone has cottoned on to the health benefits of porridge and thus the oddest of porridge creations ( with bits of dried fruit etc. ) are being sold at supermarkets. At incredibly expensive prices I might add. Goodness me, whereas a plain packet of oats ( 500 g ) costs about 40 cents, a fancy porridge creation ( ie. add boiling milk or water ) several euros.

Is it because people are fundamentally lazy and couldn't be bothered to haul out a cooking pot and wait five minutes for the oats to thicken and cook or is it a case of rather having the trendy packaging and labeling?

Well, I wish those folks who eat those fancy instant oats would get a taste of real home cooked porridge with nothing but oats and milk ( it even tastes great with plant milk ). Once they've tasted that, they would never go back to the instant type. New, not always better...

Biggi