January: the days are still short, the weather’s a bit grim, the December festivities are over, and the school and work routines are back in their relentless groove. All of which means it’s time to show yourself a little kindness, and to nurse yourself through this second, slightly less festive phase of winter.
Over at the Test Kitchen, we’ve embraced the new year with a new addition: a porridge bar, where we’re whipping up batches of soft oats and have a countertop filled with a buffet of toppings – seeds, flaked almonds, chopped pistachios, date syrup, dried figs, tahini – so everyone can DIY. Considering how personal porridge preferences are, that’s the only way to do it, plus it’s a great way to use up loose odds and ends.
My colleague Jake Norman initially fuelled our porridge chats, when he told us about an old friend who, as a boy, would go to his granny’s house in Scotland for the summer. Each morning, he’d be fed porridge from a kitchen drawer lined with parchment paper, where it sat cooled and sliced for snacking, and readily available to the kids all day. That’s a story of nostalgia that we’re still working on turning into a recipe.
Before he came to us, Jake worked at St John, where porridge was a winter staple. The rules were simple: make it with water, don’t be shy with the salt and serve with poached fruit and a jug of cream. The trick is to treat the oats like risotto: be patient, stir slowly and resist frustration.
So, how do you like your porridge? Rolled or jumbo? Salt and water? Brown sugar and butter? Kimchi and eggs? If you’re Scottish, things get more complicated, because you’re meant to stir it clockwise to keep the Devil out, apparently. Neil Campbell, our head chef at Rovi, stays true to his Scottish roots by soaking oats overnight, cooking them with water and salt, and serving with a splash of cold milk and nothing more. Our development chef Verena Lochmuller is firmly on team Neil, and reminisces about her own Scottish childhood, when oats were soaked in water, then cooked, drowned in double cream and drizzled with maple syrup. And always stirred with a spurtle.
David Bravo, our executive development chef, is far less traditional, and recommends toasting the oats until the room fills with what smells a lot like popcorn, and which results in a malty flavour and silky texture. That triggered a memory for Milli Taylor, head of the Test Kitchen, of a porridge called Tom Brown that she once ate in Ghana. Made with toasted corn ground into flour and generously spiced, the name derives from the fact that the finished dish ends up being slightly too brown, but it is those flecks of dark oats that make it uniquely delicious.
Porridge aside, we’ve been hosting more than ever over the past month or so – well, it was Christmas: comedian Sofie Hagen, writer and man about town Raven Smith, cook and food writer Julius Roberts and podcast royalty in the form of Jessie and Lennie Ware all stopped by to cook and eat with the team. There were also work drinks, Christmas parties and way too much advocaat; there was a new opening, New Year’s Eve menus and many, many festive recipes to prepare. Plus, the whole office was a bit like Santa’s workshop, with busy elves packing up Christmas deliveries. January, then, is a time for some much-needed slowing down, and to give everyone a cosy, culinary hug.
All that said, I don’t eat porridge every morning. Far from it. Sure, everyone says it has a slow release of energy that helps fuel you through the day, but we’re all in agreement that in reality we’re often starving again by 11am. Even so, a bowl of porridge is undoubtedly a great way to feed the soul, especially at this time of year. Morning or night, and maybe even from a drawer. Slow down, stir unhurriedly and be gentle with yourselves this January.
Tomos Parry’s Mountain. Photograph: Safia Shakarchi/The Guardian
