Oat

About

Freshly harvested oat grain has a simple, grassy flavor typical of whole grains. After hulling exposes the groat, kilning dries the grain and develops its characteristic warm, nutty flavor, along with notes described as peppery, papery, musty, chalky, or hay-like. Oats may be sold whole but are more commonly cut into steel-cut (Irish) oats or rolled. Cooking further develops flavor through the compound nonatrienal, adding notes of vanilla, apple, and butter. Oat flour is made from finely ground whole oats.

Pairs well with oat

• SpCinnamonColombian avena is a creamy oat drink made by cooking oats with milk and a cinnamon stick, plus clove, then blending and serving chilled;…
• FrAppleApple and oats are best known together in Bircher muesli, created by the Swiss nutritionist Maximilian Bircher-Brenner.
• CrCoconutOats have a mild, grassy flavor, while coconut brings tropical fruitiness from its lactones; both turn richly nutty when toasted, a…
• CiGingerParkin, the sticky ginger cake made with oats, is the classic pairing, but a simpler ginger oat bar works the same way: oats mixed with…
• ChCheeseCheese with oatcakes is a traditional pairing from the Lake District of England, noted since at least the nineteenth century as a supper…
• FfVanillaFood writer Waverley Root noted that the French historically used oats mainly as a vanilla substitute; in the late 19th century, French…
• FfHoneyScottish heather honey, thick, strong, smoky and spicy, pairs with oats and whisky in Atholl Brose, made by soaking oats in water…
• CrDateA simple date bar, sticky, dark dates with no tartness to offset a sweet oat topping, distinguished mainly by a salty crumble layer and…
• FrPlumDamson plums, a small, intensely flavored variety, are often used in preserves, infused spirits, or crumble.
• CrPruneWriter E.
• GrKaleIn traditional Scottish cooking, boiled and mashed kale ("kail") was often finished with a scattering of raw oatmeal, and the two formed a…
• RoMaple syrupMaple syrup can taste too refined for plain oats compared with golden syrup, a milder, citrus-tinged byproduct of sugar refining with a…
• MaSeaweedIn Scotland, dulse (a red seaweed) was traditionally combined with oats in a broth, and is also scattered over oatmeal with berries, nuts…
• BeCranberryNorwegians cook oats in a light, sweetened red-berry syrup instead of plain water or milk.
• EaBarleyBarley and oat, grown together as a mixed crop called 'dredge' in parts of Britain, share a tolerance for harsh weather.
• WoCashewWriting in 2005, chef Glynn Christian predicted a future of cashew-based tarts, flans, scones and crackers, noting a natural sweetness…
• WoPecanPecan and oats are a well-regarded pairing; a 1986 sensory study by Menard Heydanek and Robert McGorrin found a "nutty-pecan" note in…
• FrYogurtYogurt's apple, nut and buttery notes complement raw oats well, as in muesli or overnight oats.
• BeGooseberryGooseberry and oat should be a natural Scottish pairing, and though no single dish claims them exclusively, they turn up together often:…