Dutch and Australian champions win world porridge titles

The world's top porridge makers have been celebrated at the Golden Spurtle awards, with champions emerging from the Netherlands and Australia. Dutch competitor Gina Saarberg took home the coveted Golden Spurtle, while Australian maestro Rob Reid secured victory in the Speciality Porridge category. The finals took place in the Scottish Highlands.

The contest strictly adheres to a three-ingredient rule, allowing only oats, water, and salt. Saarberg credited her success partly to the water she brought from her home city, noting its soft quality and mineral content may have enhanced her porridge.

"It really brings out the nuances and different aromas," she said about adding salt, a practice she only adopted shortly before the competition.

Reid, a 36-year-old from Sydney, developed his award-winning specialities just weeks before competing in the Australian national championships. Drawing on his heritage, with a Scottish father and Sicilian mother, he created a porridge cannoli.

For this creation, Reid engineered a filling by blending porridge into a cream made with ricotta, mascarpone, and sugar, then sieving it and adding toasted oats. The shells for the cannoli were made similarly to brandy snaps, but with Sicilian Marsala wine.