The man behind one of the world’s best porridge recipes wants to promote oatmeal as a more versatile ingredient.
Chris Young took home a prize in the speciality category of the World Porridge Making Championships.
The former chef, who lives near Crieff, wowed judges with a mushroom risotto dish where he replaced the rice with pinhead oatmeal.
Chris said people should not shy away from using oatmeal for dishes other than porridge.
“You can make a risotto with anything,” he said. “But making it with pinhead oatmeal is just a little bit different.
“People are surprised it’s oats, but when you show them they all say it looks fantastic.”
He continued: “This is making people aware that you can have a risotto with oatmeal for dinner instead of at breakfast as porridge you can have in any time of the day.
“It’s nice to make people aware of the different ingredients that are out there, instead of picking up the rice when you are at the supermarket, pick oats instead and make something with those.
“There are hundreds of meals you can make in under 30 minutes.
“There’s so many things you can make with oatmeal, people need to realise that. Porridge is all they think about.”
Chris sold his deli business to focus on an enterprise that had begun as a sideline: Perthshire Oatcakes.
He said since winning the award he had had inquiries about the products from across the globe.
“Since I won, everybody is talking about porridge,” he said. “I know a lot of people in Crieff and when I am out people congratulate me.
“We’ve had quite a reaction on Twitter I’ve had someone asking me to send them oatcakes and a spurtle.”
After winning the speciality award this year, Chris is determined to defend his title next year but for now he is keeping his plans firmly under his hat.
He said: “It’s going to be something special and I have plenty of time to perfect it. I’m not telling what it will be because I am defending my title next year.”