Porridge was a staple winter breakfast, always made with milk, always served with sugar, and as a special treat we would have brown sugar as well as white. Brown sugar was always lumpy and I would be very careful when I stirred it in so that some of the lumps might stay intact and would met and become a lovely concealed puddle of sweetness.
My tastes have changed; I know porridge is a good filler, but somehow these days I want something lighter for breakfast. When I had porridge as a child we would cycle or walk everywhere, we didn’t have central heating or double glazing and no doubt needed and burned up all those calories!
The word probably comes from pottage, or maybe poringer, and could originally mean a stew made from barley – barley porridge sounds nice, I love anything made from barley, including bread! It was the Scots, as you might guess who started having porridge made from oats. Sometimes it was made very thick and poured into a special drawer and left to set then cut into slices to be eaten while at work – maybe the first flapjack?
These days if I make it I make it with milk and water – and the milk is half-fat not full-fat as it was when I was young. I don’t add any sugar, occasionally fruit, and these days I do add a pinch of salt – which seemed like a bizarre heresy when I heard about it as a child!
Lois Elsden 
Brochan and porridge are interchangeable in the north of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. A brochan-house was a place where brochan was served during the famine,
LikeLiked by 1 person
I didn’t know that, Nevin, I must investigate! Thanks for the comment!
LikeLike
Macbain [Scottish Gaelic dictionary]: “, gruel, porridge, Ir. [brochán], O.Ir. [brothchán]; [broth‐chán], [*broti‐], cookery; root [bru], I.E. [bhru], whence Eng. [broth], Lat. [defrutum], must. See [bruith].”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks… so interesting to see the development of language!
LikeLike
More info on porridge at the Dictionary of the Scots Language: http://www.dsl.ac.uk/results/porridge/fulltext/withquotes/both/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
Golden syrup or Maple Syrup is a must on Porridge. Sugar just doesn’t cut it for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooooh, golden syrup! And yes, for special treats it has to be maple syrup!
LikeLike
porridge, my favourite breakfast:) specially with almond mil, sultanas, cranberries, nuts and seeds and honey:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds super!
LikeLike
Still love porage in winter months, with a knob of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup. I also remember this way of spelling it from my childhood.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It must be one of the oldest comfort foods!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My Dad, during World War 2, ended up being the only Welshman in a Scottish regiment for a while and they took pity on him and gave him sugar with his portage. The Scots ate it with salt.
LikeLike