[To Make Oatmeal Porridge]

This chapter discusses the way to make Oatmeal (or as it is often called, Water) Porridge. Some medical authorities allege that Oatmeal Porridge ought to boil for twenty minutes: in common practice however it is not boiled for more than ten minutes: and, with respect merely to the palateableness of the mixture, that is sufficient. The accompaniments are milk in the first place, and this in all its varieties - Cream, or blue (i.e. skimmed) milk, Butter-milk; - secondly Treacle (as particularly in the royal navy, where this mixture is called Burgoo); - thirdly, Beer in all it’s forms; in particular Porter was prescribed by an Edinburgh surgeon; - fourthly, Sugar or Honey. There are other forms of exhibiting this preparation: but these are the principal.