The Power of Porridge

Today Sharon wore for the first time this year a light cardigan as she went out early. It wasn´t cold but “there was definitely a nip in the air,” she said.

What does colder weather mean? Porridge of course. We´ve recently found a new brand, or new to us at least, of porridge in our local Intermarche supermarket – Flahavan´s – which comes to the Mediterranean all the way from Ireland´s Kilmacthomas, on the River Mahon in County Waterford.

The porridge is lovely and smooth and the family-owned company is immensely proud of its product if the wording on the packet and its website is anything to go by. According to the website, www.flahavans.com, there has been an oat mill at Kilmacthomas since the late 1700s. The river Mahon, which flows from its source in the Comeragh Mountains to the sea at Bonmahon, provided the power to turn the great stone wheels that milled the oats.

Originally, the oatmeal that was produced by milling was heavier than that sold today. In 1935, the family added an oatflaking facility which produced a finer flake that is faster to cook. Now Flahavan´s Progress Oatlets is the leading brand of porridge oats in Ireland. The chairman of the company is a sixth-generation family member. The packet we found at Intermarche is labeled “Flahavan´s Irish Porridge Oats.”

“Flahavans porridge has a distinctive texture and taste because all of the oats used in the making of Flahavan´s are grown locally, chosen from a select panel of growers,” says the company. “The region of Kilmacthomas has its own micro-climate, nestling beneath the shelter of the Comeragh mountains while also being relatively close to the sea. This means that the area does not get very cold winters, which gives a better quality of oat grain.”

Sharon, who suffers from an English upbringing, prefers her porridge with milk and honey. This is sacrilege in the opinion of the Scots half of the household, which holds that it should only be eaten with salt. In the old days in Scotland, it was not unknown for the week´s porridge to be made on a Monday, poured into a drawer and left to set with chunks being cut out for breakfast each morning.

Apparently the tough Scots and Irish were eating the best possible breakfast as porridge has the highest protein content of any cereal. In more modern times that makes it ideal for people trying to lose weight. A diet rich in fibre is said to help prevent heart disease and porridge is good for this, as it reduces blood cholesterol by soaking up the bad stuff. Porridge can be relied on to keep your spirits up: “Eating porridge helps the brain to produce serotonin. Serotonin is a brain transmitter that helps keep our spirits up and our appetites down. Levels of serotonin dip when sunlight is low – i.e. during the winter months and can frequently lead to Seasonal Affective Disorder.”

According to Flahavan´s, famous people who eat porridge include Wallace and Gromit, Big Brother housemates, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Demi Moore, Kate Moss, Calista Flockhart, Tim Henman and Jane Fonda.

Sharon ought to be added to that list as plenty of porridge will be consumed in the Campo in the months to come.

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©Phillip Bruce.