Spoons at the ready: Australia’s first porridge championship is coming
Something is afoot in the NSW seaside village of Pearl Beach. You wouldn’t guess it from a glance down the street, but a peek inside locals’ mailboxes might tip you off.
Just ask the town’s postie Jadei Rose, who suddenly found herself delivering multiple parcels a few weeks ago. “It was funny, when I got my first box I thought, ‘OK... this is different,’” she told nine.com.au.
This time next week, the NSW seaside town of Pearl Beach will be abuzz with porridge lovers. iStock
It was an influx of oats to the area, but wasn’t the result of some viral food trend. In exactly a week, the Central Coast town will be a hive of activity, and it’s all thanks to porridge – more specifically, Australia’s very first festival of porridge.
Named the Pearly Spurtle, it’s an Aussie spinoff of Scotland’s World Porridge Making Championship, where entrants battle for the coveted ‘Golden Spurtle’. (FYI, because we know you’re wondering: a spurtle is a wooden utensil traditionally used for stirring porridge.)
From Scotland to the Central Coast
The contest, held in the Scottish Highlands town of Carrbridge, has been running since 1994. It’s been recently thrust into the spotlight by the 2025 documentary film The Golden Spurtle, which is what planted the seed of inspiration for a group of Pearl Beach locals.
“My friend saw it at the Australian Film Festival and came home and said, ‘Oh my God, the hall in that documentary is identical to our village hall. We should do something’,” Karina Stafford, a member of the organising committee, tells nine.com.au.
“So, after a number of wines, a group of us went, ‘Yeah, that’d be fun’. Originally, we were looking at doing a big community porridge breakfast, but it has grown from there.”
It might seem like a quaint idea, but the enthusiasm for porridge isn’t to be underestimated. Tickets for the August 8 event – which will raise funds for the maintenance of Pearl Beach’s Memorial Community Hall and local domestic violence and homelessness charity Coast Shelter – have already sold out.
“When we talk about it, people either kind of cross their eyes and look at us strangely, or their eyes light up, and it’s like, ‘I’ve got to be there’,” Stafford laughs.
Even the Pearly Spurtle organisers have been inspired to up their porridge game. Supplied/Karina Stafford
A porridge-making contest is the main event, but there will be other elements and nods to the dish’s Scottish origins on the day – a parade featuring the City of Gosford Pipe Band, a Celtic band performance and Scottish dancing, and treats including bacon butties, hot buttered rum and porridge (with a bar’s worth of toppings).
The Pearly Spurtle’s porridge contest will involve 15 competitors and three heats, with two categories – Traditional and Creative – and the same rules that apply to the World Porridge Making Championship.
The event was inspired by Scotland’s famous World Porridge Making Championship. Supplied
This includes entrants providing their own oats, hence the wave of local mailbox drops. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I delivered most of [the 15 competitors’ oats], I couldn’t say for sure, but there’s been a few!” Rose laughed.
The Aussie victor will win flights to Scotland to compete in Carrbridge later this year.
Porridge photos are populating the committee’s WhatsApp chat. Supplied/Karina Stafford
“They only take 30 entrants and hundreds of people apply, but any country that has a national porridge competition gets a seat at the table,” Stafford says, adding that the organisers have worked closely with the team in Scotland in putting their event together.
Three judges will assess the creations: Sydney-based Scottish chef Karen McPherson; Lawrie McKinna, Mayor of the Central Coast Council and a fellow Scot; and Caroline Velik, who won the Specialty category at least year’s World Porridge Making Championship.
Stafford says even the organising committee – a small group of residents with some friends “dragged into the mix” – has been inspired, sharing their porridge creations in their WhatsApp group chat.
“Someone sent a photo of porridge with buttered rum, and I was like, ‘OK, I really need to step this up’ ... it’s made me realise there is a much bigger world of porridge,” she says.
“We’re hoping people will get inspired, and maybe some of the people from the audience will be a competitor next year. We hope to double the competitors.”
The world of the Golden Spurtle
Founded in 1994, the international contest attracts entrants from around the world, including Australia. Velik has competed twice, first in 2022 and again in 2025, as has Sydney chef Toby Wilson, who features in The Golden Spurtle – the film centres on the 2023 competition.
Pearly Spurtle judge Caroline Velik (right) has competed twice at the World Porridge Making Championship. Instagram/@goldenspurtle
There are two categories: Traditional porridge, which is awarded the Golden Spurtle, and Specialty porridge. Strict rules apply; for instance, the Traditional porridge must only be made with untreated oatmeal, water and salt.
Last year, Velik’s Campfire Porridge Jaffles, which heroed flavours including wattleseed, Davidson Plum and Bundaberg Rum, wowed the judges and clinched her the Specialty title. She also came runner-up in the Traditional category.
The Melbourne food stylist recalls being delighted by the traditional pageantry around the event the first time; unfortunately, bad weather in Carrbridge put a dampener on the 2025 festivities.
The Melbourne food stylist won the Specialty category and came runner-up overall in 2025. Instagram/@carolinevelik
“You’re in this tiny village and there’s a procession down the main street from this beautiful medieval bridge. You walk down behind a Scottish pipe band ... It sounds a bit kitsch, but I absolutely loved it,” she told nine.com.au.
The cooking might be low and slow, but don’t be fooled – Velik says the stakes are high.
“You meet the competitors the night before, and everyone is so lovely. But once you’re in that competition, everybody is very serious and very competitive. That was an interesting paradox.”
The anatomy of a perfect bowl of porridge
Like her fellow Golden Spurtle alumni, Velik has learned a lot about nailing a bowl of porridge through her time in the contest. She favours steel-cut oats, and says finding a high-quality base pays off.
“You have to have good-quality oats, and if you soak them overnight, then drain off the soaking liquid and add fresh water, that will give you a really good start,” she said.
“And don’t underestimate a good salt, it brings out the flavour.”
While making porridge is a relatively simple process, Velik says a common mistake can derail the result: cooking it at too high a temperature.
“One of the contestants who won in 2024 had researched that you should not go above 92℃ because that’s when the gluten, the starch, can leach out and break down too much,” she says.
Don’t be fooled by its humble reputation: porridge is serious business. iStock
“It can get a bit too gluey, and when people talk about that, I think it’s because they’ve let it bubble away ... I add cold water throughout the cook and that it will just drop the temperature.
“There’s a lot in it that can go wrong if you’re not following the way to cook it properly. I’ve cooked a lot of porridge very badly to get to this point!”
