Nearly every day of our Irish trip, that was my breakfast request. The first time I ordered the porridge, it came in a smallish bowl but with cream and sugar already added. At our next B&B, a bit fancier place, the porridge came unadorned, though the requisite cream, and honey or sugar, was on the table ready for self-serving. South Beacher that I try to be, self-serve left me with a not very exciting bowl. However moving on to Waterville, a small local place where all the workmen hung out provided the penultimate porridge. There I was served a steaming hot, large but not too large, bowl of porridge already drizzled with extra-thick Irish cream, honey for sweetening and a gratuitous, but gratifying, pat of butter to top it off. It filled my belly with a warmth and goodness that might have lasted the entire day, though being the vacation it was, we never considered missing lunch.
In the Irish spirit and to keep our visit alive, I've taken a solemn vow of porridge making to equal that of an Corcán restaurant in Waterville, Co. Kerry. The recipe I've found is deceptively simple, so I'm a bit concerned that it's only part of the answer, the rest being the addition of honey and butter and more importantly, the quality of the cream. Still I'll devote myself to achieving that same smooth, creamy consistency and perfect marriage of porridge to condiments, through as many trials as necessary. Surely the breakfast bowl scientists won't mind when I slightly change their words to say:
Porridge eaters are much happier and healthier than people who go without. Skipping porridge can also affect both mood and memory, and encourage unhealthy snacking.
I look forward to avoiding the snacking scourge and joining the Queen, a famous porridge eater herself, with elevated mood and memory.