GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / AMONG THE VINES – We had porridge in winter when I was a child and it was so tasteless and stodgy that we covered it in brown sugar. But our mothers were right: it is an excellent start to the morning, one of the best, say doctors and dietitians, and you can make it tasty. If you’re one of those who says never again, reconsider.
You can buy very good porridge in Switzerland, and if you cook it right, you’ll be off to a good start. The best porridge I’ve ever had was in western Ireland, where I could buy oatmeal “nuts” rather than rolled oats, and leave them gently heating overnight on the dying embers of a cast-iron wood stove. It was slightly chewy and full of flavour.
My Swiss kitchen doesn’t have one of those stoves, so here are my tips for making better than edible breakfast porridge.
- Buy “gros” (large) flocons d’avoine, or oatmeal flakes, not the small ones, which tend to cook into a mush. Larger Coop supermarkets and many health food stores carry them.
- For 2 generous adult servings we measure one juice glass worth of oatmeal and pour slightly less than 2 glasses of water over it. Add a very small pinch of salt, preferably fleur du sel, which has important nutrients that are lost in table salt.
- We heat it on 4 on our electric stove until starting to heave and bubble. Immediately pour a small amount of milk over the oats (total of 2 glasses of liquid to 1 of oats) and turn the heat down to 3 or 2, so it continues warming gently without bubbling. Total cooking time about 20 minutes.
- It’s done when the liquid is absorbed; be careful it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
You can eat it plain, but I find I want more salt then, unless I serve it with fruit. A luscious pile of fresh seasonal fruits from nearby and a small amount of milk, and you are ready to face the day.
One benefit of a porridge breakfast, I find, is that it lasts longer and I can easily skip a mid-morning snack.
This is one of a series of articles for Swiss Semaine du goût, 12-22 September.