Oat cuisine

It is surprising that gourmet West Africans should be so angered by Jamie Oliver’s new recipe for Jollof, one of their traditional recipes. (your report, 31 October).

We Scots are equally proud of our porridge, which has a similar status in Britain, but is interpreted in many different ways regarding its ingredients and even methods of eating.

Surely imitation is the ­sincerest form of flattery in any culture.

Peter Laidlaw

Edinburgh