Winner of 30th World Porridge Making Championships crowned

The World Porridge Making Championships have crowned their 30th winner during their annual event in the Scottish Highlands.

First time competitor Adam Kiani was crowned World Porridge Making Champion in Carrbridge after beating competitors from around the world.

Mr Kiani, who competed under the Pakistani flag, was amongst 30 porridge fans competing for the highly-coveted title of World Porridge Making Champion and the Golden Spurtle trophy.

The 2023 event had a truly international flavour attracting competitors from across the UK and as far afield as USA, Canada, Cyprus, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Pakistan, Indonesia, Netherlands, and Germany.

Adam Kiani

Mr Kiani, 25, competed alongside lifelong friend, James Leach.

The pair share a passion for porridge and event started an Instagram called Forridge_UK to share their special recipes.

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“It was 2020 and we were bored of people thinking porridge was boring,” Mr Leach said.

The pair came across an article about previous porridge making champion Toby Wilson, and decided to put their “oaty energy” into the contest.

The pair said Mr Kiani’s win was a “great reward” for years of thinking about and making oats.

Mr Kiani revealed that oats, salt, water and a little help from a friend was his winning recipe for the final.

“The winning recipe was collaboration, honestly,” he explained.

“The only edits you can make to it are the proportions of the ingredients.

“I couldn’t actually tell you how much I put in as I accidentally added more salt so had to change it as I went.

“I had to borrow some oats from James in the end,” he said.

When asked for any top tips on making porridge, Mr Leach told people to use ingredients “you already like”.

“The traditional recipe can taste so different depending on the proportions so play around with it,” he said.

“Don’t be afraid to put more salt in, and using unprocessed oats can be a huge difference to the flavour,” Mr Kiani added.

Porridge chieftain of this years event, Charlie Miller, said: “We have had an extraordinary response this year.

“We are so proud that after 30 years the event remains so popular, and residents and volunteers continue to put Carrbridge on the world map.”

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