Oatmeal cups
The oatmeal cups grains are de-husked by impact, and are then heated and cooled to stabilize the groats, the seed inside the husk. The groats may be milled to produce fine, medium, or coarse oatmeal. Rolled oats are steamed and flattened whole oat groats.
Old-fashioned oats may be thick and require longer cooking time. Quick-cooking rolled oats are cut into small pieces before being steamed and rolled. Instant oatmeal is cooked and dried, often with a sweetener and flavorings added. Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Both types of rolled oats may be eaten uncooked, as in muesli, or may be cooked with water or milk to make porridge. In some countries, rolled oats are eaten raw or toasted with milk and sugar, sometimes with raisins added, as in muesli.
The term ‘oatmeal’ sometimes refers to a porridge made from the bran or fibrous husk as well as from the kernel or groat. It could be flavoured with cream, sugar, butter, salt, honey, seeds or fruit on top. Because of its cheapness, and the ease with which it could be prepared in large quantities, stirabout was widely served in institutions like prisons, boarding schools, convents and workhouses. Oatmeal has a long history in Scottish culinary tradition because oats are better suited than wheat to the country’s low temperatures and high humidity. As a result, oats became the staple grain of Scotland.
Samuel Johnson referred, disparagingly, to this in his dictionary definition for oats: “A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people. In Scotland, oatmeal is created by grinding oats into a coarse powder. It may be ground fine, medium, or coarse, or rolled, or the groats may be chopped in two or three pieces to make what is described as pinhead oatmeal. Gruel, made by mixing oatmeal with cold water that is strained and heated for the benefit of infants and people recovering from illness. Outer Hebridean white pudding, served sliced with fried eggs at breakfast.
A sweeter version with dried fruit is also known. Staffordshire oatcakes are a local component of the full English breakfast. Once the mixture has risen, it is ladled onto a griddle or bakestone and dried through. Throughout the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and Russia, oatmeal porridge made from rolled oats and water or milk is a traditional breakfast staple. Known under various local names meaning “oat porridge”, “oat flake porridge” or “oatmeal porridge”, it is normally made either savoury or sweet by adding salt or sugar, and it is often eaten with added nuts, raisins or dried fruits as well as spices, most commonly cinnamon. Oatmeal porridge has a long tradition in these regions, but during the Middle Ages porridge made from rye or barley was even more common in at least some parts of the area. In the United States, oatmeal is often served as a porridge with milk or cream and a sweetener, such as brown sugar or honey.
It may include additional ingredients such as peanut butter, cinnamon or various types of fruits. Traditionally it is sweetened with raw honey and cardamom. Porridge made from 1-minute quick-cooking rolled oats with raisins, peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Oatmeal Recipes and Cooking Tips” About. Corn and Its Preparations in Ancient Ireland”. Workhouse Diet 1850 – 1900 – Desperate Haven – The Famine in Dungarvan – Waterford County Museum”.
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. Including a Journal of His Tour to the Hebrides. Oatmeal is of two kinds, both common in all shops in which it is sold, fine meal, and coarse or round meal. For various purposes, some prefer the one and some the other. There is no difference in quality, but merely in the degree in which the grain has been triturated in the mill. Oatmeal product list of a Scots manufacturer”.
