First time entrants from Australia and Iceland for Carrbridge's world porridge champs

There will be competitors for the first time ever from Australia and Iceland in the World Porridge Making Championships.

Organisers have said they are part of an increase in the number of international entries from 2021.

The competition to find the maker of the world’s best porridge takes place in Carrbridge on Saturday 8 October.

This year's entrants will include a food stylist from Australia who took part in the virtual competition 2021, an environmental ethnologist and storyteller from Iceland, a food and nutrition teacher from Wales, and an international travelling private chef from Scotland.

Thirty competitors will vie for the highly coveted title of World Porridge Making Champion and the Golden Spurtle trophy, which is awarded to the contestant deemed to have made the best traditional porridge using just three ingredients – oatmeal, water and salt.

Competitors can use pinhead, course, medium or fine oatmeal, and entries are judged on appearance, texture, colour and taste.

There is also an additional prize for the best speciality porridge, where oatmeal can be combined with any other ingredients.

2021 virtual spurtle competition winner, food blogger Mirian Groot from The Netherlands, will travel to Scotland to enter the competition in person for the first time.

The competition last took place in person in 2019, and both World Porridge Making Champion, Lisa Williams, and speciality champion Nick Barnard, will both return to Carrbridge to defend their titles.

Anyone interested in entering this year's contest should do so via the Golden Spurtle website www.goldenspurtle.com before 21 June.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.