When we visited Scotland a couple of years ago, we visited the border town of Jedburgh on our way to Hadrian's Wall. We wandered through the town and made our way to visit Mary Queen of Scots House which was very interesting. Of course, whenever you visit tourist attractions you have to exit via the gift shop and while we were there we bought a spurtle. The woman in the shop insisted that our porridge will taste even better than it normally does. To be honest, we have had many bowls of porridge since then but I don't think we have ever used the spurtle. What is a spurtle? Apart from being a fun word to say, it is a wooden implement that is used to stir porridge. I was intrigued when I saw that there was a movie coming out called The Golden Spurtle and so I dragged my husband to see it with me. He only came under sufferance but we both enjoyed it!
When you travel, you often come across small towns that are making big claims like home of raspberry jam, or best tomatoes in the world. Back in the 1990s the small town of Carrbridge in the Scottish Highlands was looking for something to differentiate itself. They wanted something very Scottish and so the World Porridge Championships were born.
Sometimes people get obsessed with something unusual and this movie is testament to this. I would never have expected people to get obsessed with porridge. Now when I think of porridge, I think of winter mornings, creamy oats, made with milk and topped with little blobs of butter and sugar. But for the people who take porridge very seriously, they would probably be horrified at that description. For the purists, porridge consists of just three ingredients - oats, salt and water.
This documentary focusses equally on both the organisers of the competition but also the competitors. Among the competitors we meet an Australian chef, Toby Wilson. We follow him from Sydney as he practices his technique through to the community hall in picturesque Carrbridge where the competition is held. We also meet returning champions, the ultra competitive health food shop owner, other international competitors and the man who is returning to the competition after a 15 year break. We hear about their dedication to finding the perfect oats to cook, and the techniques they practice at length to get the texture and taste just right. There are rivalries and friendships, secrets, obsessions, controversies and ceremonies.
As interesting as the competitors and the competition are, if you had to pick just one of the stories, it is probably that of the chieftain Charlie Miller. He has been leading the organisation of the event for 30 years but this is his last time as he is retiring due to ill-health. He is ably backed by the rest of the organising committee who grapple with the logistics of an event that seems to have almost outgrown the venue. Other members of the committee include the woman who is charged with washing all the pots (not my favourite thing to do after cooking porridge) to the person organising all the flags of the competitor's nations, sound and video links, dealing with the Scottish weather and so much more.
It's probably a bit of cliché, but the word charming absolutely applies. This documentary is funny, heart warming and offbeat, and definitely worth checking out. Just finishing this post makes me wish I could watch the movie again! It comes to streaming here next week so maybe I could make that happen!
Oh, and our spurtle is only made of wood, not gold! What I did learn from this movie is that we need to make sure that we stir our porridge in the right direction. Apparently, if you stir in an anti-clockwise direction. you let the devil in!
Here's the trailer
Saturday - Roast pork, crispy potato galette, cauliflower cheese
Sunday - Honey Chicken and Rice
Monday - Beef and Broccoli Noodles
Tuesday - Thai Chicken Meatballs with rice (new)
Wednesday - Japanese Pork Curry
Thursday - Takeaway
Friday - Takeaway
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