I am glad to see oat foods taking new forms and gaining popularity with new audiences. I welcome all enthusiasts sharing what they have learned.
But you have to acknowledge the existing traditions and their expertise. It would be a tragedy, if, instead of seeds of civilization, you were spreading some meaningless imitations that have no roots. Your post has many layers of sophistication, but I believe you have omitted the true kernel of the matter.
I don’t know what guava tastes like, but I strongly suspect it does not belong in an authentic oatmeal porridge. The canonical additions are apple or apple jam with cinnamon, or blueberry. It is ok to experiment (e.g. bananas and coconut are great with blueberries), but some things just don’t belong there. Cherries (too astringent) and cloudberries come to mind. But I will not judge your condiments until I have tried them out.
As other commenters have noted, it is not absolutely necessary to sweat the cooking. In Spartan conditions rolled oats can be eaten straight with some fluid, though you need to be aware it is going to swell in the stomach. A traditional way to cook unrolled oats is to put them overnight in oven. With rolled and steamed oats I use microwave on full power until the porridge almost boils over, about 3 minutes. It’s not as good as long simmered porridge (the gel is thinner and not as creamy), but it’s fast and good enough. If I get rich I will definitely get an inverter microwave, I did not know they existed.
Whole grain oat is said to moderate blood sugar spikes in comparison to other cereals. That suggests it contains higher amounts of anti-feedants or mildly poisonous substances. This is nothing to be alarmed about, it’s a very common theme with “healthy” plant foods. It could be the fiber that slows the digestion, too.
Some people claim to have a problem with the slimy consistency of the porridge or gruel. I have met people who said they hated it since they were small children. I don’t believe anyone really is so impaired: they were probably just finding more rationalizations for some anti-breakfast meme diet.
In Finland we have a style of flat 100% oat bread that is very succulent and so slick and chunky it won’t stick to teeth nearly as much as other breads. I believe it is some kind of baked aerated porridge.
I respect your oatmeal respect and expertise but I think parts of your post are close-minded about certain things. “True roots” is nothing—if you’re thinking really old tradition, why is a different new world fruit (blueberries) in there at all? Even if you’re not restricting yourself to that, why should coconut in oatmeal be fine but not guava? That makes me think it’s just about what tastes good and not really about tradition.
(I haven’t tried guava in oatmeal either, but guavas are great, a really unique flavor, I recommend trying it if you ever get the chance!)
I think it’s odd and overgeneralizing to assert that people don’t like oatmeal because of rationalizations about their diet. In my experience, people often innately dislike widely-popular sensations or experiences for no particular reason—sensory sensitivities or just unusual preferences or etc.
On that front I also dislike the texture of normally-cooked oatmeal—I think I never especially liked it but then I did long trail crews as a teenager where oatmeal was the only breakfast for weeks straight, and I really haven’t wanted to eat it since—but overnight oats (oats mixed with liquid and sat in the fridge overnight, not cooked—you could warm it up til it’s hot but not to the boiling point) or those packets of instant oats mixed with boiling water (but not otherwise cooked/microwaved after that) both have a soft but much-less-glorpy consistency, so I’ll happily eat them for breakfast sometimes. Recommend them to anyone looking for an oatmeal experience but wishing the texture were a little different.
The problem for me with porridge has always been too much water, not enough oats—I am hungry well before lunch despite feeling full at breakfast. Even more so when out in the hills, tramping/climbing. Muesli or soaked oats dont have that problem.
I am glad to see oat foods taking new forms and gaining popularity with new audiences. I welcome all enthusiasts sharing what they have learned.
But you have to acknowledge the existing traditions and their expertise. It would be a tragedy, if, instead of seeds of civilization, you were spreading some meaningless imitations that have no roots. Your post has many layers of sophistication, but I believe you have omitted the true kernel of the matter.
I don’t know what guava tastes like, but I strongly suspect it does not belong in an authentic oatmeal porridge. The canonical additions are apple or apple jam with cinnamon, or blueberry. It is ok to experiment (e.g. bananas and coconut are great with blueberries), but some things just don’t belong there. Cherries (too astringent) and cloudberries come to mind. But I will not judge your condiments until I have tried them out.
As other commenters have noted, it is not absolutely necessary to sweat the cooking. In Spartan conditions rolled oats can be eaten straight with some fluid, though you need to be aware it is going to swell in the stomach. A traditional way to cook unrolled oats is to put them overnight in oven. With rolled and steamed oats I use microwave on full power until the porridge almost boils over, about 3 minutes. It’s not as good as long simmered porridge (the gel is thinner and not as creamy), but it’s fast and good enough. If I get rich I will definitely get an inverter microwave, I did not know they existed.
Whole grain oat is said to moderate blood sugar spikes in comparison to other cereals. That suggests it contains higher amounts of anti-feedants or mildly poisonous substances. This is nothing to be alarmed about, it’s a very common theme with “healthy” plant foods. It could be the fiber that slows the digestion, too.
Some people claim to have a problem with the slimy consistency of the porridge or gruel. I have met people who said they hated it since they were small children. I don’t believe anyone really is so impaired: they were probably just finding more rationalizations for some anti-breakfast meme diet.
In Finland we have a style of flat 100% oat bread that is very succulent and so slick and chunky it won’t stick to teeth nearly as much as other breads. I believe it is some kind of baked aerated porridge.
I respect your oatmeal respect and expertise but I think parts of your post are close-minded about certain things. “True roots” is nothing—if you’re thinking really old tradition, why is a different new world fruit (blueberries) in there at all? Even if you’re not restricting yourself to that, why should coconut in oatmeal be fine but not guava? That makes me think it’s just about what tastes good and not really about tradition.
(I haven’t tried guava in oatmeal either, but guavas are great, a really unique flavor, I recommend trying it if you ever get the chance!)
I think it’s odd and overgeneralizing to assert that people don’t like oatmeal because of rationalizations about their diet. In my experience, people often innately dislike widely-popular sensations or experiences for no particular reason—sensory sensitivities or just unusual preferences or etc.
On that front I also dislike the texture of normally-cooked oatmeal—I think I never especially liked it but then I did long trail crews as a teenager where oatmeal was the only breakfast for weeks straight, and I really haven’t wanted to eat it since—but overnight oats (oats mixed with liquid and sat in the fridge overnight, not cooked—you could warm it up til it’s hot but not to the boiling point) or those packets of instant oats mixed with boiling water (but not otherwise cooked/microwaved after that) both have a soft but much-less-glorpy consistency, so I’ll happily eat them for breakfast sometimes. Recommend them to anyone looking for an oatmeal experience but wishing the texture were a little different.
The problem for me with porridge has always been too much water, not enough oats—I am hungry well before lunch despite feeling full at breakfast. Even more so when out in the hills, tramping/climbing. Muesli or soaked oats dont have that problem.