# So about Porridge **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814 "2017-04-05T15:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/41 "2017-04-06T09:33:21Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > What is Golden Syrup? Is it like corn syrup with caramel coloring? It’s “like” corn syrup in the sense that it is liquid sugar, but it is pure sucrose from sugar canes, and the colour is natural. (Corn syrup is glucose and maltose). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/42 "2017-04-06T10:20:36Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Do I really want to know what scrapple is? Basically: > [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Ahhh…Scrapple- comprised of meat products not high enough quality to be used in a hot dog. 😃 So you take a bunch of [pig parts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapple) too disgusting to be used for sausage or hot dogs, boil for a bit, combine with some grain filler and seasonings and then press them into a brick shape. Cut off slices of the gross squidgy substance and fry. Remove from pan, then throw away the slice, and the pan, and set fire to your kitchen if necessary. Because yuck. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/43 "2017-04-06T10:39:31Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > The trouble with oatmeal is that the package directions call for seriously overcooking it, and no wonder kids hate it… Add the oats (never use instant) to boiling water, keep it on very high heat, and stir constantly until too thick to stir. Serve it al-dente with brown sugar and sour cream. The cooking water could have raisins plumped in it, with a good dose of spices like nuytmeg and cinnamon and cloves and allspice. It’s really good if cooked in apple juice instead of water. Since I’m only making it for myself, I use a couple of dessertspoonsful of rolled oats (rather than oatmeal, which makes for a rather gritty porridge), with milk to just cover it, in a high-sided bowl, and microwave it for a couple of minutes. Stir it and let it rest, then another 30sec or so on lower power. Dried fruit and other flavourings (dollop of honey, spices if liked) added after (microwaved sultanas and raisins can be VERY hot). That way, you don’t have to clean the damn saucepan that you need to use on the hob. It is said it releases energy more slowly than processed breakfast cereals, and helps the body do healthy things with sugar, but I’m a bit hazy on all that. All I know is, it makes for a comforting breakfast in winter. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/44 "2017-04-06T11:50:32Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > When I went to China, I was introduced to congee, which is a kind of rice porridge. You basically just cook the rice with way more liquid than you’d use for making rice, and cook for a long time so that the rice releases a lot of starch and you end up with this thick liquidy stuff. > > Congee by itself is basically a blank slate; you can dress it up a thousand different ways. Chicken congee was the most common I saw. Make it with chicken stock instead of water, add some shredded chicken, and hey presto, chicken congee. > > I had shrimp congee, too. At least, I hope it was shrimp. You see this all over Asia. If you ever have Dim Sum, there is usually a cart with it (although it is called _juk_, which I assume is Cantonese). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/45 "2017-04-06T12:44:17Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > I use a couple of dessertspoonsful of rolled oats (rather than oatmeal, which makes for a rather gritty porridge) I’m the United States, “oatmeal” means all oat porridge—and that means about 90 percent of the time porridge made from rolled oats, and maybe 10 percent of the time porridge made from steel-cut oats. I have never heard anyone here use the term “oatmeal” to literally mean a ground product (“meal”) made by grinding oats. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/46 "2017-04-06T15:13:07Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Basically: > So you take a bunch of [pig parts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapple) too disgusting to be used for sausage or hot dogs, boil for a bit, combine with some grain filler and seasonings and then press them into a brick shape. Cut off slices of the gross squidgy substance and fry. Remove from pan, then throw away the slice, and the pan, and set fire to your kitchen if necessary. Because yuck. I take it you’re not too fond of scrapple. 😃 😃 More for me. I wonder how many hospital visits there have been from that Cream of Wheat bowl smacking the kid in the back of the head? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/47 "2017-04-06T15:18:43Z")
Cream of Wheat is my most loved hot breakfast cereal. Sweetened with honey and raisins. Great stuff. I’ll eat oatmeal. But it’s not a cereal that I ever order or ask for. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/48 "2017-04-06T15:19:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s interesting that we (US-ians) don’t use the generic term. We say ‘oatmeal’ or ‘Cream of Wheat’ (brand name, rather than ‘farina’), ‘mush’ or ‘corn mush’, etc. Mrs. L.A. gets irritated at me for using specific names for things. But if I started saying ‘porridge’ instead of a specific _kind_ of porridge, she’d be irritated. Somehow “gruel” fell out of favor. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Do I really want to know what scrapple is? Think of it as a form of the currently-trendy “nose-to-tail” dining. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/49 "2017-04-06T15:21:32Z")
I wonder whether Glenn has seen any of these responses. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/50 "2017-04-06T15:24:56Z")
It’s ridiculous what a big deal is being made over scrapple here. It’s just really a kind of pork sausage. If you have ever eaten a hot dog or bologna, you’ve pretty much eaten whatever is in scrapple. It tastes just fine, a variation of a ground meat patty made of pork that you can put ketchup or hot sauce on or put it on an English muffin with egg and cheese or as a side for eggs and toast or whatever. Like any food, some people like it and some people don’t, but it’s not like some kind of extreme exotic weirdo stuff. It’s certainly not as sharply distinctive as chitterlings, which has a pungent odor that you have to get by just to taste it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/51 "2017-04-06T15:29:55Z")
> [@Hocus\_Pocus](#): > > What brand of s/f syrup? I have yet to find a s/f maple syrup that I like. Who cares? It’s in quick-oats gruel! 😛 Today is a commuting day, so the cupboard is 110 miles away. No idea what the syrup is. It’s been a while since I’ve had gruel. When I use syrup, it’s Grade B maple syrup from Trader Joe’s over pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/52 "2017-04-06T15:32:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > (although it is called _juk_, which I assume is Cantonese). Correct. I grew up eating rice porridge (juk). As a child, I couldn’t eat oatmeal because all the marketed stuff had tons of sugar in it, which was just wrong to me. Now when my husband makes oatmeal, I put salt and eat it with what I usually put on rice porridge. It should be savoy! not sweet. Also, I grew up in Hatfield, Pennsylvania where this is made: [http://www.hatfieldqualitymeats.com/our-products/product-detail/scrapple](http://www.hatfieldqualitymeats.com/our-products/product-detail/scrapple) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/53 "2017-04-06T15:38:26Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > \ Also, I grew up in Hatfield, Pennsylvania where this is made: > [http://www.hatfieldqualitymeats.com/our-products/product-detail/scrapple](http://www.hatfieldqualitymeats.com/our-products/product-detail/scrapple) Now you’re talkin’. I like to occasionally make the slices real thick (half an inch or so) so you get the interior mushy stuff just warm while the outside crunches. I like **Ascenray** ’s idea about scrapple McMuffins; never occurred to me. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/54 "2017-04-06T15:46:47Z")
I had scrapple for the first time in my mid 30s… and I kinda liked it. I don’t love it, but I sometimes order it if I’m not in the mood for sausage or bacon. Decent flavor and interesting texture. I like when it’s crispy on the outside. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/55 "2017-04-06T16:01:34Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > I grew up eating rice porridge (juk). > As a child, I couldn’t eat oatmeal because all the marketed stuff had tons of sugar in it, which was just wrong to me. Now when my husband makes oatmeal, I put salt and eat it with what I usually put on rice porridge. It should be savoy! not sweet. Another anecdote from my Quaker Oats days… In the '90s, Quaker started marketing food products in China. They introduced Instant Quaker Oatmeal there, but they realized that the Chinese were accustomed to savory foods at breakfast, not sweet foods – and, as you note, the flavors of instant oatmeal in the U.S. are all sweet. So, they made oatmeal flavors like pork and shrimp. I tried them once; they were, umm, different. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/56 "2017-04-06T16:01:52Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s ridiculous what a big deal is being made over scrapple here. It’s just really a kind of pork sausage. > > If you have ever eaten a hot dog or bologna, you’ve pretty much eaten whatever is in scrapple. > > It tastes just fine, a variation of a ground meat patty made of pork that you can put ketchup or hot sauce on or put it on an English muffin with egg and cheese or as a side for eggs and toast or whatever. > > Like any food, some people like it and some people don’t, but it’s not like some kind of extreme exotic weirdo stuff. It’s certainly not as sharply distinctive as chitterlings, which has a pungent odor that you have to get by just to taste it. Is scrapple at all comparable to [goetta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetta)? I had that (goetta, that is) for the first time a couple of weeks ago, during a trip to Cincinnati. It was palatable enough, although I wasn’t crazy about the texture. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/57 "2017-04-06T16:26:51Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > The trouble with oatmeal is that the package directions call for seriously overcooking it, and no wonder kids hate it… Add the oats (never use instant) to boiling water, keep it on very high heat, and stir constantly until too thick to stir. Serve it al-dente with brown sugar and sour cream. The cooking water could have raisins plumped in it, with a good dose of spices like nuytmeg and cinnamon and cloves and allspice. It’s really good if cooked in apple juice instead of water. Hmm, i may have done mine to the opposite extreme. I boiled the water, toss in apple, cinnamon, brown surgar (no raisins), or what not, once that simmered for a bit, i dump in a bunch of oats, turn off the heat, stir it around for a minute and eat it. I suppose they might be raw or under cooked at the least? I like it that way though, oat mush does not sound good. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/58 "2017-04-06T16:33:35Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Is scrapple at all comparable to [goetta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetta)? I had that (goetta, that is) for the first time a couple of weeks ago, during a trip to Cincinnati. It was palatable enough, although I wasn’t crazy about the texture. No, Scrapple is a cheap imitation of Goetta. Ask anyone in Cincinnati. Hehe, they are similar, but i do like Goetta better. Goetta is made with Oats, Scrapple Corn, and Goetta is usually pork shoulder, no lips or unspeakable parts like that dutch scrapple stuff. 😛 And sadly you cant find Goetta outside the greater Cincy area ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/59 "2017-04-06T16:38:14Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > I suppose they might be raw or under cooked at the least? If you’re using rolled oats (and not the chopped-up version of rolled oats that are used in instant oats), that level of preparation very likely doesn’t cook them enough. Quaker makes two versions of rolled oats: “[Old Fashioned](http://www.quakeroats.com/products/hot-cereals/old-fashioned-oats.aspx)” (which are meant to be added to boiling water, then cooked over medium heat for about 5 minutes) and “[Quick](http://www.quakeroats.com/products/hot-cereals/quick-oats.aspx)” (rolled somewhat thinner; cook in about 1 minute). But, hey, if you like your oats _al dente_, more power to you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814/60 "2017-04-06T16:47:23Z")
I have it 3-4 times a week, usually with a banana and a dollop of natural yogurt - turns out I’m a textures guy 🙂 Even the thought of those sugary cereals makes me want to scrape my teeth now. People gives that to children … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-about-porridge/783814.md?page=4)