Porridge

Porridge (also spelled porage, porrige, parritch) is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped grain (or some other starchy plants, e.g. plantain) in water and/or milk, often with flavourings. It is usually served hot in a bowl. It may be sweetened with sugar, honey etc. and served as a sweet dish, or mixed with spices and vegetables to make a savoury dish.

The term is often used specifically for oat porridge (called oatmeal or oatmeal cereal in the U.S. and parts of Canada), which is eaten for breakfast with salt, sugar, milk, cream and/or butter, and sometimes other flavourings. Oat porridge is also sold in ready-made or partly-cooked form as an instant breakfast.

Other grains used for porridge include semolina, rice, wheat, barley, corn and buckwheat. Many types of porridge have their own names, e.g. polenta, grits and kasha.

Historically, porridge was a common food in much of Northern Europe and Russia. Barley was a common grain, though other grains and yellow peas could be used, depending on local conditions. It was primarily a savoury dish, with meats, root crops, vegetables and herbs added for flavour. Porridge could be cooked in a large metal kettle over hot coals or heated in a cheaper earthenware container by adding hot stones until boiling hot. Until leavened bread and baking ovens became commonplace in Europe, porridge was a typical means of preparing cereal crops for the table. It was also commonly used as prison food for inmates in the British prison system, and so "doing porridge" became a slang term for a sentence in prison.

As porridge is easy to digest, it is used traditionally in many cultures to as a food for the sick, and is also often eaten by athletes in training.