Porridge makers from opposite sides of globe triumph in world championship
Dutch champion Gina Saarberg took the coveted Golden Spurtle, while Australian champion maestro Rob Reid won the Speciality Porridge category at the finals in the Scottish Highland
By BBC News
Dutch champion Gina Saarberg has won the Golden Spurtle at the World Porridge Making Championship in Carrbridge in the Scottish Highlands. Australian porridge maker Rob Reid won the Speciality Porridge category at the same event.
The BBC report says the annual competition drew 30 competitors from 14 countries. Saarberg, 28, won with the same recipe that made her Dutch champion in July, using organic pinhead oats, salt and water brought from the Netherlands.
Reid, 36, from Sydney, won the speciality title with a porridge cannoli inspired by his Scottish and Sicilian heritage. The report says he became Australia’s porridge champion in August before travelling to Scotland for the finals.
The championship is held in Carrbridge, just north of Aviemore, and the BBC report says it was created in 1994 by a local hotelier to promote porridge and the area. The main contest requires competitors to use only oats, water and salt, while the speciality class allows any ingredients.
Saarberg said she had brought her own water to give herself an advantage, while Reid’s winning dish was praised for its creative use of porridge in a dessert-style recipe.