There are many varieties of spurtle. The traditional Scottish cooking implement, designed for stirring porridge without forming lumps, comes in a range of sizes, can be formed from cherry wood, beech, or maple, and might be topped with a decorative finial or smoothed out at its end for a more modern finish. But on Saturday in Carrbridge, in the Scottish Highlands, only one spurtle mattered: the Golden Spurtle, awarded annually to the winner of the World Porridge Making championship, which have been hosted here since 1994.
The sun shone on the picturesque village as almost 40 competitors lined up in the village hall for six heats across the day. Tasked with producing a traditional porridge – made only from untreated oatmeal, water and salt – and a speciality dish where additional ingredients and flourishes were permitted, entrants had travelled from across Scotland and as far afield as Australia and the US for a shot at the Golden Spurtle.
