Instant Pot Frumenty

I am a fan of warm cereals for breakfast, including oatmeal, cream of wheat and corn-meal porridge. When I was a child, my grandmother would make a delicious corn-meal porridge which always warmed my body and soul. She would put a small circle of sweetened condensed milk in the middle. I discovered frumenty, an ancient porridge made from almond milk and bulger wheat while perusing the web pages of History Dollop.

Frumenty is a hot cereal porridge, which was made of wheat or barley cooked in milk (sweet) or broth (savory). Early recipes were plain, but over time spices, sugar and fruits were added. Some of the more decadent variations thickened it with eggs.

The particular frumenty recipe on the web site originated in 1390. My recipe differs from the one on the website in one way. I used an Instant Pot to shorten the cooking time.

Frumenty

Monday 31 August, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8

Recipe by British Food, An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History, Colin Spencer. Columbia University Press: New York. 2002 (p. 36-41)

Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
15 min
Servings
1

Ingredients

  • 14 cup bulgur or cracked wheat
  • 12 cup almond milk
  • 14 cup water
  • 14 tsp. kosher salt
  • pinch of saffron (optional)

Instructions

  1. Combine water and half of the almond milk with salt and bulgur in the instant pot.
  2. Set to manual with a cook time of 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, add saffron to the remaining 14 almond milk and steep.
  4. When the bulgur is cooked, release the valve and empty the contents of the instant pot into a bowl.
  5. Add the saffron-infused milk and stir.
  6. Serve as is or garnish with something sweet (e.g. New Jersey cranberries)

Nutrition Information

  • Fibre: 4.9g
  • Fat: 2.4g
  • Carbs: 24.77g
  • Protein: 5.01g