Australia's Festival of Porridge
Rachel Visontay — WINNER Creative Porridge
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A passion for food runs through Rachel's veins. Her grandparents had a delicatessen in Sydney's King's Cross in the 1950s — one of the first places in Australia where it was possible to buy imported European foodstuffs. Her palate developed under the tutelage of two kitchen mavens (aka Jewish grandmothers), and a mother who criss-crossed Sydney in her station wagon to stuff the family's larders with industrial tubs of Persian feta, fresh bagels, hunks of Parmigiano, and above all, enormous quantities of smoked salmon. Rachel spends her free time milling her own flour, hosting olive oil parties, reading about food history, and growing vegetables in a community garden. When not pursuing culinary pleasures, Rachel works at a university researching alcohol, mental health, the brain, and dementia.
Mediterranean Fig Porridge
50g steel-cut oats
50g Scottish oatmeal (not instant oats)
850ml water
½ tsp salt
3 generous tbsp tahini
3 ½ tsp date syrup
Zest of ½ small lemon
Handful of candied pistachios, roughly chopped
2 figs, sliced and then cut lengthways into halves
Very good olive oil (eg Oro Di Giano’s San Felice)
Dry toast oats over medium-high heat in a saucepan, stirring occasionally until they have a nutty aroma (7-8 mins). Add toasted oats, along with oatmeal, to a pot, and add all the water plus the salt. Start on medium heat, once oats reach a simmer, reduce heat immediately. The cooking temperature should be such that the porridge slowly burps rather than bubbles or boils. Stir frequently while porridge is cooking. When the oats are cooked, but still have a slight chew, remove from the heat (about 35 mins). Move the porridge to a mixing bowl and immediately stir in the tahini. The oats will become very creamy. Next, stir in the date syrup. Divide the porridge into two serving bowls. Grate half the zest directly on to the oats then fan the fig slices along one side of each bowl, and sprinkle chopped pistachios on the other side. Grate the remaining lemon zest over the top of each bowl for a splash of colour. Finally, generously drizzle the olive oil over the whole bowl.