Seed and Grain making porridge for the soul
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Seed and Grain making porridge for the soul

Launching in July this year at Torquay farmers market, Seed and Grain is redefining the way people conceive porridge in the hopes of bringing a new wave of people to local farmers markets.

The brains behind the business, Erin Murnane, became inspired and began developing Seed and Grain back in January while she was working as a kitchen assistant in the UK.

“I was inspired to start a business selling porridge partly due to my background as a Dietitian and knowing its nutritional benefits, partly due to my travels around Scandinavia and the hours spent in the porridge café Grod, and partly due to the fact Victoria gets very cold, and from what I see on Instagram people really love porridge,” Erin explains. “I’m also intrigued with the Scandinavian culture and concept of ‘Hygge’ meaning a quality of comfort and cosiness and the feeling of contentment, all which for me, is created when sitting with a warm bowl of porridge in my hands.”

At Seed and Grain, every bowl of porridge is made from locally sourced oats purchased directly from the Central Victorian countryside. The oats come in their raw groat form and each groat is hand rolled on the Surf Coast using a small hand mill with stone rollers, before it’s then turned into a delicious bowl of goodness at farmers markets.

“It’s been great at the markets so far as most people are avid porridge lovers and don’t need much convincing to try our porridge,” Erin says, “but for the few unsure market goers the fact we hand roll our oats using a small hand roller intrigues them. By using freshly rolled oats, the porridge has a creamier texture and fuller flavour which is a pleasant surprise to the unfortunate memories and words like gluggy, stoggy or claggy they may have previously used to describe porridge.”

The steaming hot porridge is topped with yoghurt, seasonal fruit compote and granola, with an essential sprinkling of micro herbs. Some flavours include turmeric and coconut, cacao and hazelnut, and rhubarb with ginger crumble, and with the weather warming up, Erin is looking forward to mixing up her offerings.

“I’ve started small selling a couple of variations of porridge at the market, however coming into the warmer weather will be a great opportunity to showcase more Australian grown seeds and grains through serving cooler breakfast dishes like buckwheat and quinoa bircher, and savoury dishes like a brown rice Buddha bowls to adapt to the summer months,” she says.

“It’s fun creating different flavours and topping ideas using seasonal fruits, nuts and seeds and other healthy bits and bobs like cacao nibs, granola and crumbles, plus it’s pretty great cooking food which looks beautiful too.”

Along with using farmers markets to establish the business, Seed and Grain has been served at Uncle Jack’s in Ocean Grove, and has been on the shelves at the Ox effect and the Farmers place.

In a brand new collaboration with Yoke Yoga studio in Torquay, Erin will be serving her porridge along with a few other sweet and savoury brunch options for Seed and Grain’s first pop-up shop.

Seed and Grain Porridge will be available from Wednesday to Sunday for the next few weeks at 2 Baines Crescent, Torquay. So pop in, say hello and get it while it’s hot…

Check out @seedandgrainporridge on Instagram for some pictures of what’s on offer.