# so porridge=oatmeal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2019, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706 "2019-03-29T06:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/1 "2019-03-29T06:14:09Z")
I was watching sesame street and they had a fairy tale day … and cookie monster and a new character was asked to make porridge and they didn’t know what porridge was and everyone said it was oatmeal Now unless I misremember history …… they didn’t eat oatmeal in Europe and looked down on the Irish and Americans when they did Now I was also told that the modern equivalent. was something like cream of wheat or malt o meal was I told wrong? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/2 "2019-03-29T06:40:42Z")
Pease porridge hot! Pease porridge cold! Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old! You can still get plenty of oatmeal in Europe just as you have been able to for centuries, so I don’t see how come your friend said it was not available historically or that even now there is need for a “modern substitute”. Perhaps the modern gourmet wants to mix it up; why eat oat porridge every single day when you can have rice, wheat, maize, poi, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/3 "2019-03-29T07:02:11Z")
In the Commonwealth English that I’m familiar with, oats or oatmeal is the dry stuff that’s stored in your cupboard. Once you cook it into something you can eat, it’s porridge (or if you stick a bunch of stuff in it and eat it raw, then I guess it’s muesli) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/4 "2019-03-29T07:16:41Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > Now unless I misremember history …… they didn’t eat oatmeal in Europe You [misremember](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oatmeal#Nordic_countries_and_the_Baltics) [history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenntar). > [@](#): > > Now I was also told that the modern equivalent. was something like cream of wheat or malt o meal Those are \*also \*porridge. Any cooked starchy grain (or even some legume) is porridge. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/5 "2019-03-29T07:46:12Z")
I prefer calling it gruel. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2019, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/6 "2019-03-29T07:57:37Z")
A porridge made with oatmeal (i.e., the bran, rather than whole flakes) is going to be pretty unsatisfying. The kind of porridge you’d get in Scotland would be cooked until the flakes release their starch into the liquid: with just oatmeal, it’d be rather gritty in texture. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/7 "2019-03-29T09:54:00Z")
The porridge my German mom made was barley with hamhocks cooked in it. Mmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/8 "2019-03-29T09:55:44Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I prefer calling it gruel. Gruel is thinner than porridge. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2019, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/9 "2019-03-29T10:59:53Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > A porridge made with oatmeal (i.e., the bran, rather than whole flakes) is going to be pretty unsatisfying. The kind of porridge you’d get in Scotland would be cooked until the flakes release their starch into the liquid: with just oatmeal, it’d be rather gritty in texture. In America, “oatmeal” means oat-based porridge, not just the powdered bran. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2019, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/10 "2019-03-29T12:09:04Z")
Ah, one more difference to bear in mind! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/11 "2019-03-29T12:20:31Z")
Porridge lovers should check out Imgur user **onlyporridge**. Dude eats porridge every day for breakfast and posts a daily picture. Every picture looks the same, but they are each unique. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/12 "2019-03-29T12:22:06Z")
If you have an Instant Pot it has a porridge setting. You can turn rice into a perfect gelatinous blob in just one hour. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/13 "2019-03-29T12:27:56Z")
Samuel Johnson famously defined oats as “a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” ---
**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:** [March 29, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/14 "2019-03-29T13:21:51Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > I was watching sesame street and they had a fairy tale day … and cookie monster and a new character was asked to make porridge and they didn’t know what porridge was and everyone said it was oatmeal > > Now unless I misremember history …… they didn’t eat oatmeal in Europe and looked down on the Irish and Americans when they did > > Now I was also told that the modern equivalent. was something like cream of wheat or malt o meal > was I told wrong? Yes, you’re wrong. They’re all porridge and they always have been ([Porridge - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porridge#Varieties)). In British-based stories, “porridge” usually (but not necessarily) means oat porridge. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/15 "2019-03-29T13:30:20Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Samuel Johnson famously defined oats as “a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” I like Boswell’s (apocryphal) retort - "“Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?” ---
**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:** [March 29, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/16 "2019-03-29T14:36:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > > [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > > > I prefer calling it gruel. > > Gruel is thinner than porridge. ^This. Gruel, you drink. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/17 "2019-03-29T14:48:34Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I prefer calling it gruel. May I please have some more? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/18 "2019-03-29T15:10:23Z")
In St Martin we sometimes have breakfast at the [Gingerbread Cafe](https://www.belairbeach.com/amenities/gingerbread-cafe/). On their breakfast menu they have Oat Meal (two words) for “health conscious” diners. We’ve never ordered it (nor seen anyone else order it). The idea of being “health conscious” while on vacation just doesn’t click for me. I typically go for the Norwegian Eggs Benedict (Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon) and a Bloody Mary.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/19 "2019-03-29T16:12:10Z")
[Gruel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruel) [Porridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porridge) Grits are a form of porridge. I loves me some grits. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706/20 "2019-03-29T17:16:21Z")
Does the term “mush” cover porridge, oatmeal, gruel, and all other variations? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-porridge-oatmeal/831706.md?page=2)