Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fife porridge champion vies to bring the Golden Spurtle back to Scotland

Post Thumbnail

A former porridge champion from Fife is vying to regain the cherished Golden Spurtle this weekend.

Neal Robertson, 62, cooked his way to victory in the 2010 World Porridge Making Championship and is hoping to reclaim the title at this year’s contest, taking place in Carrbridge on Saturday.

The Auchtermuchty resident was so proud of his achievement in 2010, he had the words “World Porridge Champion 10.10.10” tattooed on his right arm.

“It was great to win it,” he said.

“I first entered in 2009 and have been hooked ever since.”

Neal, who used to own the Tannochbrae Tearoom, currently works night shifts at Amazon’s Dunfermline distribution centre.

He said his daily morning bowl of porridge was all he needed to prepare him for the competition.

“I have porridge every morning. It’s a routine,” he said.

“When I’m working nights at Amazon, I have porridge when I get home in the morning.”

Neal has even engineered a special spoon for stirring the traditional Scottish dish.

His patented “spon” is double backed, which prevents sticky oats from clogging the utensil.

And oats aren’t his only foodie passion. He also runs the Auchtermuchty International Potato Festival in his spare time.

After lifting the Golden Spurtle in 2010, Neal won the speciality section, in which oatmeal can be combined with any ingredients, the following year.

Contenders in the main competition for traditional porridge must follow strict rules. No rolled oats are allowed and only untreated oatmeal is permitted. The only other ingredients to be used are water and salt.

Last year, Per Carlsson and Calle Myrsell from Sweden shared the title. It was the second year running the crown had gone to Sweden.

They will be returning this year to compete against entrants from Scotland, England, Wales, Germany, Russia, Ireland, Norway, France, Poland, Belgium and Canada.

The current speciality winner is Chris Young, owner of Perthshire Oatcakes, who last year wowed the judges with his Scottish tapas platter.

New this year is a Silver Spurtle award for best junior porridge maker, open to young cooks aged eight to 16.