The Germans, it seems, will soon be eating only grain. You have always been a bit more fortunate with grain than others, are you now perhaps on your way to the land of grain laraffes?
To get this idea, it is enough to take a look at the shelf with the oat products in any supermarket. Grains in every grinding and grinding degree, plus oat milk and cream, differently flavored and prepared for absolutely all barista requirements. Finally yogurt, ice cream and other desserts were added.
But of course it’s less about the wide variety of recipes. After all, one reason for the new sex appeal of oats is that they can be used to replace dairy products in particular. Another is health, because oats are lower in gluten than wheat, which is unfortunately so often wrongly demonized. Its high amount of fiber makes it digestible, and the feeling of satiety lasts particularly long after oats.
Everything is right, everything is important. But now it would be nice if we could finally start cooking a little more courageously with our new favorite product. A good example is oatmeal. An ingredient that is known to be from tender to hearty and that not only makes an excellent breakfast, but is just as good for baking (unbeatable as a crumble ingredient, for example for crumble), as a meat side dish or as the center of a hearty bowl or a vegetable pan. These are remarkable qualities for a supposedly so inconspicuous and upright flake, and yet in the vast majority of cases it ends up in the same place with us: in the cereal bowl. Not a mistake, but a bit one-sided in the long run.
Let’s stay calm at breakfast. As an alternative – especially now that it is getting cooler – the Scottish national shrine porridge would be an option. Incidentally, the German names oat gruel or porridge can be deleted from your vocabulary. You have proven to be a career drag on this wonderfully comforting dish. Nine years ago, horror spread among the Scots because, of all people, an Englishman living in exile in Lower Saxony had won the Porridge World Cup. But what was mourned as a national disgrace in Scotland – only half for fun – was ignored in the new home of the world champion. To this day, the porridge has not caught on with us. Too bad.
The objection that there is simply no time to stand by the stove in the morning for breakfast does not apply, because porridge is easy to prepare. It was not without reason that every Scottish kitchen used to have a so-called porridge drawer, the daily ration was simply tapped from the oat mixture stored in it. Fortunately, things are also less rustic today.
Ben Horsbrugh, the porridge world champion who lives in Oldenburg and is actually a literary scholar and trained baker, won the title with ground oats, sea salt, spring water and a lot of stirring. Oatmeal would never be allowed at the World Cup – unthinkable! But they are wonderfully practical for everyday use. Cover about 40 grams per person in a saucepan with a thick bottom with a pinch of salt, water, milk or oat milk, bring to the boil briefly and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the desired consistency is achieved. Complete.
Dream combination: oatmeal, rosemary, nuts, honey and fried pear
This goes well with sugar or honey and a large stick of butter, better still nut butter (let the butter simmer for about three to five minutes until it turns golden brown, then pour through a sieve) and chopped almonds or nuts. Porridge can always be enhanced in any form, whether with cinnamon, cloves, fruit, raisins, coffee or sour cream. It is particularly efficient to flavor the cooking water or milk with herbs. For example, just let a sprig of fresh rosemary cook and remove it at the end. Rosemary porridge tastes best with honey, a dollop of Greek yoghurt, chopped hazelnuts and a few slices of pear that are briefly fried in the pan. And of course the oats can also be heartily modified. With the addition of bone broth or even snails, star chefs such as Magnus Nilsson or Heston Blumenthal made the scotch risotto a noble side dish ten years ago.
But you really don’t have to go that far. How easy and modern the not-so-staid flake can be put at the center of a main course is shown, for example, by Indrani Roychoudhury and Robi Banerjee on their recommendable YouTube channel “Lucky Recipes”, whose recipes have just been published as a book (“Cooking as in India”). Roychoudhury and Banerjee modify the hearty Indian rice breakfast Poha so that it works as lunch or dinner. For their recipe combine 50 grams of coarse oatmeal per person in the pan with plenty of fresh vegetables such as broccoli, beets, carrots, peas and onions. There are also pumpkin and sunflower seeds and coconut flakes. And spices like ginger, coriander, chilli, cumin and black mustard seeds. Who would have thought that fusion cuisine would one day bring together curry and muesli in such a profitable way?