Comments on: Gruel In Pewter

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:57:03 +0000

Yes, quite pious, retrospectively. However, I must add that I often add raisins and cinnamon. I’m sure the addition of these absurdly decadent luxuries compromise the spiritual benefits of gruel.

I think Satan’s allergic to salt in the same way slugs are. One tosses salt over one’s left shoulder in order to get rid of Satan who’s sitting there about to do something diabolical.

By: Outa_Spaceman

Outa_Spaceman — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:04:45 +0000

“Youâ€™ve no idea how this makes me feel.”
Pious and regular no doubt..
I suspect that gruel should remain unsalted as I’m sure there’s some connection between salt and Satan.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:10:53 +0000

‘Gruel: water only.’
I’ve been eating gruel when I thought I was eating porridge!
You’ve no idea how this makes me feel.
Mind you, not for every meal.

By: Trubott Wellington

Trubott Wellington — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:09:40 +0000

What of the serving of Gruel? Granted a pewter bowl is acceptable – at for those metallurgy boffins at the RSC, but what of the spoon?

I suggest that it should be wooden, barely concave and preferably chipped or split. This will serve to emphasize the runny, fugitive nature of the fluid.

By: Outa_Spaceman

Outa_Spaceman — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:06:41 +0000

Porridge: is made with a milk and water mix (to taste).
Gruel: water only.
My grandma told me that so it must be true..
(I do so miss her Spam fritters..)

By: Frank Key

Frank Key — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:34:05 +0000

James : It is indeed the “runniness” of gruel that differentiates it from porridge. Gruel is thin, even watery, whereas porridge is a thick oat-rich slop that fills the stomach and sates the pigtape (see “Feeding A Pigtape” for clarification).

By: James Peasworth

James Peasworth — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:05:47 +0000

The description of “gruel” here sounds very much like porridge to me. Is there any recognised factor which distinguishes gruel from oat porridge, or is it just a matter of semantics? Perhaps the runniness or temperature of the substance?

By: Trubott Wellington

Trubott Wellington — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:42:46 +0000

Not so long ago I found myself in an up-market restaraunt where I was served an “Amuse-Bouche” consisting of weakly-flavoured potato-foam. Could this have been one of Dobson’s recipies, or an example of that lamentable fad “molecular gastronomy”?

By: Outa_Spaceman

Outa_Spaceman — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:24:03 +0000

Standby grapple fans…!
I sense a titanic struggle in the offing…

By: Frank Key

Frank Key — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:09:55 +0000

Three-quarters of a single day is a good deal longer than the gruelly dilettantes outside Burlington House today will commit themselves to a self-righteous puritanical diet. I rest my case.