Elvis-inspired porridge maker hoping to win world title

A porridge-maker whose special recipe is inspired by Elvis is hoping to become the king of ‘rock and bowl’ with her take on the traditional Scottish dish.

Charlotte Turner’s Presley Porridge will be ‘All Stirred Up’ as she bids to win the prestigious Golden Spurtle at the annual World Porridge-Making Championships next month.

The jeweller from Hertfordshire will be thinking it’s ‘Now or Never’ as she takes on 15 other competitors at the competition being hosted once again in the Highland village of Carrbridge.

Ms Turner, of St Albans, will be paying homeage to Elvis and the king of breakfasts with her porridge, the ingredients of which will not be revealed until the championships.

Entrants will be travelling from across the globe.

The furthest competitor will be Californian Laurie Figone, who hosts her own television show in the US, called Cooking with Laurie.

There are also two each from Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

They include a hotel and restaurant owner, an expatriate Scot with noble ancestors, a chef and owner of a porridge bar in Copenhagen, a grain miller, and Sweden’s Nordic porridge-making champion.

Last year’s champion John Boa, of Edinburgh, will be leading the homegrown challenge in a bid to defend his title.

The 2010 winner, and last year’s speciality porridge champion, Neal Robertson, of Auchtermuchty, is also bidding to take his third championship. Both his titles are tattooed on his arm.

The 2008 winner, Ian Bishop, who lives near Carrbridge at The Slochd, is also making a return, using water from a well in his garden.

Another local contestant is practice nurse and local accommodation provider Kate Clark, who has been testing out her ‘experiments’ on her family.

Heading the team of judges will be George McIvor, a Master Chef of Great Britain, and Neil Mugg, the Gleneagles Hotel head pastry chef.

Guest judge is 16-year-old Bronwyn Taylor, of Inverness, a powerlifting champion and Britain’s strongest teenager, who eats two bowls of porridge a day.

The winner of the golden spurtle must produce the best traditional porridge made from oatmeal – pinhead, course, medium or fine.

The traditional porridge must be made with untreated oatmeal, not oat flakes, and with only water and salt.

Each competitors must produce one pint of porridge, which is divided into three portions for the judges to taste. They award points on the consistency, taste and colour of the dish.

A further award will be made for the speciality porridge made with oatmeal, which can also have special ingredients added.

The 19th annual event takes place at Carrbridge on 6 October.