Porridge

Porridge

A bowl of oat porridge
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	starchy plants (e.g. grain), water or milk, flavourings

Porridge (also spelled porage, porrige, parritch) is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped starchy plants – typically grain – in water or milk. It is often cooked or served with flavorings such as sugar, honey, etc. to make a sweet dish, or mixed with spices, vegetables, etc. to make a savoury dish. It is usually served hot in a bowl.

The term is often used specifically for oat porridge (called oatmeal in the U.S. and parts of Canada), which is eaten for breakfast with salt, sugar, milk, cream, or butter, and sometimes other flavorings. Oat porridge is also sold in ready-made or partly cooked form as an instant breakfast.

Other grains used for porridge include semolina, rice, wheat, barley, corn, triticale, and buckwheat. Many types of porridge have their own names, such as polenta, grits, and kasha.

Porridge is a staple food in much of Africa, and historically was so in much of Northern Europe and Russia.

Porridge is easy to digest, so it is used traditionally in many cultures as a food for the sick, and often is eaten by athletes in training.

Oats for porridge may be whole (groats), cut into two or three pieces (called 'pinhead', 'steel-cut' or 'coarse' oatmeal), ground into medium or fine oatmeal, or steamed and rolled into flakes of varying sizes and thicknesses (called 'rolled oats', the largest size being 'jumbo'). The larger the pieces of oat used, the more textured the resulting porridge. It is said that, because of their size and shape, the body breaks steel-cut oats down more slowly than rolled oats, reducing spikes in blood sugar and keeping you full longer. The US Consumer Reports Web site found that the more cooking required, the stronger the oat flavor and the less mushy the texture.