Porridge inspiration

My inspiration for new and different ways to prepare food are wide and varied. Growing up in the multicultural town of Darwin, around the corner from the iconic Parap markets I was exposed to a variety of cuisines at a young age. My sister Lydia recently reminded me that the main thing we fought about as kids, was food... "who ate the rest of my prawn bun with peanut sauce?"... (*ahem* as if I'd ever leave part of my prawn bun uneaten...)

I've been lucky enough to travel quite extensively to distant lands, with my strongest memories centering around food. In Germany it was the roast goose with knödel, red cabbage and gravy (which I am certain was 50% duck fat) that we had for new years eve, in a cold bus station in Japan it was a warm triangle of sushi rice wrapped in nori with steaming salmon inside, the fried clams in Porto Covo, Portugal have never been paralleled and the white anchovies in Spain changed my opinion about pickled fish forever. That's just to name a few.

My parents and Aunty Shamim bring their own worldly experience to the table and have helped shape me as a cook, for which I will be forever grateful. More recently it was the cooking stylings of the multi-talented Cherise, a yoga teacher/chef who showed me just how deeply satisfying vegetarian food can be.

Cooking shows on SBS are often a source for inspiration and I have to give a big shout out to their recently released "Feast" magazine as the only food magazine I have ever read that consistently inspires me. I think it's because they try very hard to present food from different cultures authentically, without over simplification. 

In recent years I have spent countless hours on the internet looking at different blogs, often north American ones. Many of them blur together and I'm sure many of my food ideas began from a seed planted by someone's blog I can no longer recall. I want to make sure I give credit where it's due (when I can remember) and today's "recipe" (using the term loosely) was directly inspired from Susan's "Ode to Oatmeal"

Even though I can be very experimental with food... (I once had a partner complain I never cooked the same meal twice. I took it as a compliment and probably should have realised at the time that it highlighted a fundamental philosophical miss-match in our personalities... but I digress...) Despite my experimental nature, I have certain blockages in terms of my creative approach. For example, it had never occurred to me to put anything on porridge besides brown sugar/honey and milk. So imagine the revelation I had when I read Susan's Ode to Oatmeal!

This morning my breakfast was porridge cooked in water, topped with soy milk (I'm pretty lactarded when it comes to milk), 1 heaped tsp of tahini and a generous splash of maple syrup. If you think about it, tahini + sweetener (usually honey) is halva, so this is kind of a Canadian inspired Halva Porridge. If I'd had pistachios it would have been even better...

It's not as healthy as plain porridge with milk, but it's a lot more satisfying - so I would argue that this keeps you feeling fuller for longer and therefore possibly better for you in the long run because it cuts down on cravings and binge eating...

I hope this helps inspire you too