The Golden Spurtle + Recorded Q&A (PG)

This Australian documentary about the world porridge championships, held each year in a Scottish village, is as wholesome and nourishing as its oat-stirring subjects

There are just three ingredients required to make a perfect bowl of porridge: oats, water and salt. What makes the difference between a run-of-the-mill bowl of beige slop and a top-tier offering with a chance of carrying off the Golden Spurtle – the coveted top prize of the annual porridge-making competition held in the Scottish highland village of Carrbridge – is a subject of heated debate.

Early moments introduce places in and around Carrbridge – including a pub and a cemetery – before we meet competitors and people of note in the world of rolled oats. They include the Australian taco chef Toby Wilson, who packs up a portable kitchen and flies with it across the world, and is competing against the likes of Nick Barnard, the co-founder of a wholesome food company who is “burning with desire” to triumph after having made the finals several times.

It’s all very sweet and agreeable: a palate-pleasing celebration of the noble oat. Tuck in.