How humble oats have fuelled a nation (2024)

Oats are synonymous with Scotland – as famous as the Loch Ness monster or whisky – but this understated grain is as essential as ever to the sustainability of the land and its people.

Two thousand years ago, you would not have seen oat fields adorning the horizon of north-east Scotland. But when the Romans imported oats in the 1st Century CE to provide for their horses, they unwittingly seeded a national legacy. Oats thrived in Scotland due to the perfect growing conditions of long daylight hours, plentiful rainfall and acidic soil. And although its success is due more to luck than good judgment, that doesn't diminish the influence this hardy grain has had on the evolution of Scotland, its people and the world beyond.

"I remember as a kid looking in my parents' cupboard and seeing Scott's Porridge Oats – and that's in Maine," declared Josh Barton, American-born co-founder of Brose Oat Milk, one of just a few oat milk producers in Scotland. "Even people in the US know that the best oats in the world come from Scotland. There's a mythology about Scottish oats."

It's a mythology that is most strongly associated with porridge. Porridge (oats simmered in water or milk) was traditionally a breakfast staple, cooked in one giant pot for the family. Each spoonful would be dipped into a separate bowl of milk or cream for extra taste. Leftovers from the morning's batch would then be poured into a lined drawer to let cool, ready to be sliced into slabs to accompany the evening's dinner. Although it's no longer relied on as the primary means to fuel the Scottish day – and the big iron pot may no longer sit as the centrepiece in modern homes – porridge still brings people together.

Every autumn for 30 years, The Annual Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship (this year, on 7 October) has brought together porridge lovers from countries as far afield as Ghana, Pakistan and Indonesia to the small village of Carrbridge in the Eastern Highlands. It's a community-focused event, and something, remarked Alan Meikle, managing director of Scottish oat producer Hamlyn's of Scotland, that's reminiscent of the original role of oat mills in local towns and villages – uniting people around food.

Twenty competitors go head-to-head for the title of The Golden Spurtle: Porridge Making World Champion, with audience members invited to taste each of the cooks' oat-based creations. Competitors vie for the much-coveted title in two categories: the speciality competition, where the mostly amateur cooks create a sweet or savoury dish limited only by their imagination; and the main competition, where things get serious. The rules are simple but strict: do whatever you need to do with the traditional combination of oats, water and salt to make the best porridge possible. No pre-cooking allowed.

It's not all about porridge in Scotland, however. Historically, households have also baked oatcakes, or bannocks, to represent hope, love and celebration throughout the year. Farming families would specially prepare a Beltane bannock, an oatcake made to mark the Gaelic version of the May Day festival at the start of summer – part of a ritual to bring good fortune for the coming season. Standing around the fire, they would offer pieces of the bannock, first to the spirits to bless and protect their crops and animals, and then to each of the pests and predators that could cause harm. Similarly, at Halloween, as the darkness of winter was fully established, bakers would add large amounts of salt to their bannocks to bring on dreams of the future.

Oatcakes were also just a great way of fuelling on the move. "Oats were, in fact, the original fast food," said Liz Ashworth, one of Scotland's leading food writers, "and they've become part of our folklore because of their nutritional value and portability." That folklore includes stories of soldiers at the Battle of Bannockburn carrying leather pouches of oats and a metal plate for heating on the fire; of local women feeding retreating soldiers at the roadside; of drovers who created a black pudding-like cake from oats and the blood of their cattle; and of fishermen who would dip a handful of oats into the salty water before kneading them into a bannock to fuel their days at sea.

The Scottish relationship with the oat is changing, however. Although still rooted in health and hope, it's about more than simple and immediate survival. Efforts are being made by an increasing number of passionate producers to bring great taste to tables in more sustainable and future-friendly ways that could make a real difference to Scotland.

Mike Medlock's family have been oat farmers for more than 50 years in Fife, initially providing organic feed for racehorses before moving onto feeding people. When Medlock returned to run his family's oat farm, Honest Oats, in 2021, after pursuing a career in civil engineering, he did so with a renewed energy and perspective. The passion for producing great tasting oats with minimal environmental impact remained, but now he had a keen eye on long-term farming sustainability – how could he marry traditional Scottish milling methods that produce the famed nutty oat taste with future-looking farming that contributed to Scotland's future? The starting point was to rewild parts of the land. Rather than overworking the fields and stripping them of nutrients, rewilding created a huge boost in biodiversity for the area that helps retain the quality of the oat yield into the future. Medlock also continues to dry and hand-turn the oats in a 143-year-old flat-floored kiln, a labour-intensive process that provides a valuable connection to the history of the oat in Scotland.

Also working hard to combine sustainability with taste is Italian-inspired restaurant Celentano's in Glasgow. Here, the menu revolves around seasonal produce, ingredients are sourced locally where possible and nothing is wasted. This starts with the first thing placed on the table: the bread.

"Dean's obsessed with bread," said co-owner and managing director Anna Parker, of her husband, who is the chef. "He's been working on our recipe for a long time. It used to be a porridge bread, but now it's a sourdough bread with oats to give a nutty flavour." The waste product from soaking the locally grown oats for the bread is transformed by the restaurant's bartenders, who turn it into an oat syrup to replace the cream in a White Russian co*cktail.

But oats are not just in the bread and co*cktails; Celentano's savoury porridge(see recipe below), a sumptuous cross between a traditional breakfast bowl and a classic Italian risotto, is also a popular winter dish.

Oat milk is also undergoing a transformation. While its popularity may seem recent, the beverage has been fuelling people in Scotland for centuries. Brose Oats is the only oat milk company currently producing oat milk in Scotland using Scottish oats, and Barton believes they can make a real difference to Scotland, assuring that oat milk continues to be a sustainable staple on Scottish tables.

Keeping it local is the way forward. "We're shining a light on Scottish farming, getting young people interested in food and agriculture, supporting local people, jobs and education, and really, we're generating our own circular economy," said Barton.

But there's still one missing link, said Wendy Barrie, a Scottish chef, educator and slow food advocate. Heritage grains, such as the Shetland Black Oat, have been forgotten for more than 80 years. Barrie and her husband, who is a farmer, have been growing the oat in their garden to understand more of its potential. This unmodified grain has become adaptable to the Scottish climate in a way that modified, modern strains aren't. Slightly darker in colour, Barrie says it has a higher fat content, giving it greater flavour than a regular oat, with a hint of sweetness.

Mindful of the risk that climate change and soil degradation poses to modern oat strains, Barrie and her husband are now working on cultivating these heritage grains to enter into the Ark of Taste Programme – a Slow Food programme designed to preserve and protect different food sources from around the UK – ensuring that oats will be around in Scotland for the long term, whatever the effects of climate change.

So, can the oat continue to fuel Scotland and its people as it has in the past? "Absolutely," said Barrie. "Food culture is important, but that's the history. The food product is the saviour. The oat is the now and the future because we can grow it here… and it adapts slowly to change."

Serves 4

Method

BBC.com'sWorld's Table "smashes the kitchen ceiling" by changing the way the world thinks about food, through the past, present and future.

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