In the Kitchen is where you will find all my recipes and adapted recipes, tried, tested, and eaten.
Funny story. When I first came to Germany I bought what I thought was oatmeal and added hot water to my oats only to observe them swimming about doing absolutely nothing. Yup. Oats are somehow processed differently here, as Germans eat their oats raw with milk. Meaning my oats wouldn’t cook and I was left disheartened and hungry. To be quite honest, the whole thing still confuses me, because oats here and oats in the US look EXACTLY the same, but one turns into marvellous porridge when hot water is added, the other just sort of sits there. My boyfriend actually had the opposite experience when he visited the US a few summers ago and tried to eat American oatmeal cold, so I’m telling you, I’m definitely not the only one mystified by oats.
Well, I basically shrugged it off and tried to get on board with the German Müsli several times, but I can’t say that I’ve ever really gotten used to it. I just can’t shake the fact that I am eating RAW oats. And the thing is, porridge is one of my favorite breakfasts ever.
I was actually reminded of this exact fact while home in the US this past Winter holiday. Meaning ever since I have been back in Berlin, I have been craving this little number like crazy. Luckily, I have found that when I buy the very small oats (Haferflocken) and add water to them, they do turn into an oatmeal-like consistency, but I am still baffled by the whole damned thing. So please don’t ask, because hell if I know. (Actually, if anyone can clear this mystery up for me please do.) Regardless, here is my go to winter Porridge recipe.
Winter Porridge
For the oatmeal:
Oats
hot water
brown sugar
Topping:
chopped up strawberries
blueberries
honey pecans (not pictured here, but this also tastes amazing)
001: Wash the berries, and chop up the strawberries. Slice up the honey pecans. Set all of this aside.
002: Turn the kettle on and boil some water. Add dry oats to a bowl and pour boiling water on the oats enough to cook them
003: Add in the brown supar and pecan nuts and stir. Then pour in the berries and stir.
004: ENJOY.
Tip: I tend to add a little extra bit of water and a generous amount of brown sugar so that the extra water and sugar turn into a bit of a gooey paste that really combines well with all the other ingredients. If you add in honey pecans, but take out the strawberries, the whole thing will taste like cookies. I SWEAR. Mix and match your toppings. You can also try dried fruit and raisins.
Photography: Rae Tashman
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