By Filipa Gaspar via SWNS
A man has been crowned for making the world’s best porridge – but says his mom doesn’t like it.
Chris Ormiston, 45, won the 31st World Porridge Making Championship – and says the secret to his success is using pink Himalayan pink salt.
But despite making the best oats on the planet and taking home the ‘Golden Spurtle Trophy’ his mother Elizabeth, 65, is not a fan of his oats.
IT worker Chris from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, received the accolade after beating competitors from around the world.
The championship happened in Carrbridge in Scotland and with 30 participants from 14 different countries.
Judging of the porridge is made on the consistency, taste and color of the porridge – and on the competitor’s hygiene in the cooking process.
Competitors can only use three ingredients oats, water and salt.
Chris says Himalayan pink salt is crucial to his mix – as is cooking it to 92 degrees for perfect creaminess.
He said: “I thought it would be fun and it is a great day. It is interesting cooking in front of a crowd.
“The competition is like a football game – people are like shouting and cheering.
“Everyone is really friendly there. It is the friendliest competition I have ever encountered – it is open for everyone.
“My mom does not like salt in her porridge. She prefers porridge with mandarin and cinnamon rather than salt.
“The last couple of years my friends say it is quite quirky.
”They have been nice since I won it but I have heard loads of porridge jokes around the years.”
After practising for months, he was able to improve his recipe and winning the contest on Saturday with only three ingredients, oats, water and salt.
When asked why he thinks he won the contest, he said that a large part of it was down to ‘luck’.
He said: “I also did a bit of research and found out that if you cook it to 92 degrees it gets creamy and it is the perfect point – I used a little bit of science.
“I was surprised and it is still sinking in a little bit – it is quite funny. I never expected to win.”
He explained that his friends and family are all ‘very proud’ of his achievement, despite his mum ‘not being a big fan of it’.
Chris said that cooking is one of his hobbies as he finds it a ‘nice relaxing process’.
He shares some of his cooking experiences across Scotland on his YouTube channel called Camp Cook Explore.
Chris is already planning to take part in the porridge competition next year.
The idea of the Championship was to raise the profile of Carrbridge and of porridge.
When asked what makes the perfect porridge, Chris said: “Everyone likes it in different ways. Creamy but not watery and just the right amount of salt.”
Kim McGee representing the Philippines won the specialty dish competition.
Kim’s Coconut and Pandan Porridge was based on Buko Pandan a traditional dessert served chilled for tropical Filipino nights.
The competition is organized by volunteers from the Carrbridge community.
The events main sponsor is Hamlyns of Scotland, producers of Hamlyns Scottish Oatmeal and Porridge Oats.
Alan Meikle, managing director of the main sponsor, Hamlyns of Scotland, said: ‘Huge congratulations to the new world champion Chris on a fantastic win, and to the speciality champion Kim for their creativity and skill.”
