The organisers of the 27th Annual World Porridge Making Championship have announced the cancellation of this year’s competition, which was due to take place in the highland village of Carrbridge on Saturday 10 October, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
However, they are determined to keep the porridge pot boiling, and will be running an online speciality porridge competition, with the best recipe videos being published on the Golden Spurtle website on World Porridge Day on 10 October.
Competitors should submit a video of themselves making their favourite sweet or savoury dish containing oatmeal. Videos should be between 3 and 5 minutes long and should show the ingredients and the finished product.
The organisers are keen to stress that they aren’t looking for professional cookery videos – good quality mobile phone footage will do just fine.
Entries will be judged on the blending and harmony of the porridge with the other ingredients.
Entry forms should be submitted by 30 June, and videos should be submitted by 1 August.
The organisers will look at all videos and will feature their 10 favourite videos and accompanying recipes on the Golden Spurtle website and Facebook page on World Porridge Day.
The 10 ‘Virtual Spurtle’ winners will each receive a Perfect Porridge Pack from Hamlyns of Scotland.
Charlie Miller from Carrbridge Community Council who organise the competition said: “The World Porridge Making Championship is one of the most popular annual foodie events in Scotland, and everyone associated with the event is hugely disappointed that we are unable to go ahead, but the rules around movement, social distancing, crowds and quarantine make it impossible to have a normal competition this year.
Last year we were delighted to welcome competitors from 11 different countries to Carrbridge, and we hope that opening it up to a virtual competition this year will mean that we can attract a wider worldwide audience, who might not otherwise have been able to compete.”
Hamlyns Managing Director, Alan Meikle, said: “We’re very pleased that the organisers of the World Porridge Making Championship have come up with a creative alternative for this year, and we look forward to seeing lots of interesting recipe videos, hopefully from all over the world.
Visit goldenspurtle.com to find out how to enter.