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Oatmeal Gruel

A simple oatmeal gruel made with water, oatmeal, salt, butter, and optional sugar or red wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Oatmeal Gruel

Why it works: Butter and red wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,599 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Oatmeal Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

  1. Bring water to a boil in a pot.

  2. Stir in the oatmeal and let it boil for 3-4 minutes, being careful not to let it boil over.

  3. Strain the mixture through a sieve.

  4. Add salt and butter, stirring until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth.

  5. Optionally, add sugar or red wine to taste.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + red winetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,599 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Sugar + red winetop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together864 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Oatmeal
Thickens the water into a porridge as its starches swell and gelatinize during boiling.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, giving the porridge a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the savory notes of the porridge.

The step that matters

Stirring in the oatmeal and boiling. Boiling over wastes the mixture and makes the stove messy. Keeping the heat controlled while the starches swell prevents scorching on the base of the pot and keeps the texture even.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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