Darina Allen: Five recipes to prove oatmeal isn't just for breakfast

Long gone are the days of gruel and watery porridge, says Darina Allen

Virtually every food writer and journalist who stays at Ballymaloe House raves about the porridge that they serve for breakfast with a generous drizzle of Jersey cream and a sprinkling of soft brown Barbados sugar.

It’s not just any old porridge — it’s Macroom oatmeal, lovingly kiln roasted and milled by Donal Creedon at Walton’s Mill, the last surviving stone mill in Ireland. The mill has been in the same family since the 1700s. Donal, the great, great, great, great grandson of founder, Richard Walton, carefully and respectfully carries on the tradition.