national porridge day - june 1

I've decided this year I am going to do my best to embrace all that is good about winter. Starting with celebrating National Porridge Day tomorrow. What's better than a hot bowl of porridge on these wintery mornings I ask you? 


In honor of the humble breakfast dish, 5-grain porridge and muesli maker Flip Shelton has declared the first day of winter in Australia National Porridge Day, yes to promote her muesli and porridge range but also to encourage everyone to start their day with a nutritious breakfast. Flip says, "Porridge warms the cockles of your heart on these chilly mornings, it’s cheap (only 70c for 50 g – depending if you have a Papa, Mama or Baby Bear size); nutritious being a wholegrain food packed with complex carbohydrates and proteins; and there are so many delicious ways to  enjoy it.  My favourite way is cardamom, currants and pistachios".


Flip recently spoke on ABC radio about the glories of porridge including 12 suggestions for porridge toppings you can find them here.


As this is the world wide web I will go one step further and declare it International Porridge Day I like  northern hemisphere readers to feel included even if I'm finding it difficult to read northern hemisphere blogs at the moment as I have season envy. All those photos of sunshine and beach days. Back to enjoying winter. 


Now of course oats are not the only grain used to create porridge. I made the porridge pictured above using quinoa flakes and then added rice milk, sliced banana, natural yoghurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon. When I visit my friends Nicky and Jason on a weekend, if I'm lucky Jason will have made a pot of decadent black sticky rice porridge with palm sugar and coconut milk - dessert for breakfast! A recipe for black rice porridge can be found here on this lovely blog. One of my other favorite grains for porridge is brown rice. I love the nuttiness of it and particularly like to add nutmeg and sometimes lemon rind to it. Amaranth is another grain I've tried but wasn't especially taken with. My friends Bronwyn and Rosie top their porridge with umeboshi plums.


What are your favorite porridge combos? How decadent do you go? A dollop of butter? A sprinkle of salt? Cream??! Sultanas and honey? Get your grains and toppings today and prepare to start the day tomorrow with some warming, delicious porridge. Warming hmmm grated ginger is a good idea.