Taste Panel - Slow Food Edinburgh

28^th January 2009

 

Oatmeal

Product: Oatmeal

We tried a variety of oatmeals. All purchased and available in Edinburgh but none produced within the Edinburgh boundaries.

 

Producers:

Aberfeldy Oatmeal, Burnside Mills, Cupar, Fife – milled at Kelso Mills, Kelso

The Oatmeal of Alford, Montgomery Mill, Aberdeenshire

Heatherslaw Cornmill, Cornhill upon Tweed

Hogarth Cornmill, Kelso – Branded as Damhead Organics

Spoff Oatmeal, Invergordon

Stoats Oatmeal, blended sources

 

Products tasted:

We tried pinhead oatmeal from all producers apart from the Heatherslaw Cornmill. From there we purchased porridge oats.

 

In order to compare the oatmeals they were all used to make the same Cranachan recipe. This involved toasting the oatmeal and mixing it with fresh cream, crowdie honey and malt whisky then serving with raspberries.

 

Aberfeldy Oatmeal

Large pieces of oat with a good textural bite.

 

The Oatmeal of Alford

Milder oats, less nutty in comparison with the Aberfeldy oatmeal.

 

Heatherslaw Cornmill

This wasn’t a pinhead oatmeal so gave a more mushy Cranachan and not really a fair comparison.

 

Hogarth Cornmill

There had been some scepticism amongst the panel as to whether they’d be able to tell one oatmeal from another but this one proved them wrong. The panel’s favourite on the night this oatmeal had a big oaty flavour and a really good bite to the oats.

 

Spoff Oatmeal

This oatmeal had a real creaminess to it and a delicate flavour

 

Stoats Oatmeal

This was a nutty oatmeal, it seemed to pick up the toasted flavour more than the other oats although great pains were taken to toast all of the oats for the same amount of time.