Milk on cereal

[KingLear]

Is it a beverage, a broth, a sauce, or a ... ?

This is a topic making the rounds of my son's high school, as well as gamer forums. Why? I have no idea. I searched the forums here, but couldn't find a current thread, so I thought I'd ask the experts.

[Lisa Shock]

I'd say it's a sauce.

It's not a beverage because a beverage is served in a glass or cup. A beverage is never served in a bowl. (consomme may be sipped from a consomme cup, but, it's not a beverage)You wouldn't call the cream poured over sliced peaches a beverage.

There's also the issue that the cereal is the main item being served. Anything else is ancillary. This includes sliced fruit, nuts and sweeteners.

It's not a broth because broths are man-made infusions of herbs, meat and/or bones.

[Richard Kilgore]

The truly critical issue is whether you pour the milk over the cereal or vise versa. When I was a teenager, a neighbor aeronautical engineer taught me that those who pour the milk over the cereal are known as "swizzlers" and those who pour the cereal over the milk are known as "swoozlers". He was probably more helpful in teaching me chess and aiding me in re-discovering the speed of light.

[gap]

There's also the issue that the cereal is the main item being served.

Purely for the sake of fun

What if I wouldn't eat the ceral dry? Then adding the milk is actually the combination of two ingredients to make a completed dish. At this point, is the dish a broth?

[Paula E]

The truly critical issue is whether you pour the milk over the cereal or vise versa. When I was a teenager, a neighbor aeronautical engineer taught me that those who pour the milk over the cereal are known as "swizzlers" and those who pour the cereal over the milk are known as "swoozlers". He was probably more helpful in teaching me chess and aiding me in re-discovering the speed of light.

The man was also undoubtedly a Dr. Seuss fan.

Going with the sauce definition, my daughter eats it unmounted (without milk). We don't apparently mix our wet and dry at 5 years of age.

I, personally, avoid cereal. More of a hot chocolate woman in the morning. Which, just to confuse matters, is served in a bowl in France, is it not? Does this make it a sauce, rather than a beverage?

[JeanneCake]

I, personally, avoid cereal. More of a hot chocolate woman in the morning. Which, just to confuse matters, is served in a bowl in France, is it not? Does this make it a sauce, rather than a beverage?

Exactly what I was going to chime in with; I have fond memories of drinking my morning tea from a wide bowl in France. Definitely a beverage

I'd be curious about how people handle the remaining milk in the bowl after the cereal is gone - drink it or add more cereal til it's gone?

[djyee100]

My two cents. It depends on how much milk you use. On hot cereal, I like only a small amount of milk on the grain to lighten the mixture. I would call the milk a sauce. On cold cereal (which I loathe & eat only under duress), I put in lots of milk, and plenty of sugar too. If there's fruit, I dump some of that on top. Then I take a few bites, mostly of fruit, and leave it. When all is said and done, I would call that concoction a cold soup.

[Lilija]

Broth! A liquid to eat your solids from, then sip once the solids are consumed. Cold soup all the way. The fruit, sugar, Nestle Quik powder (what...) just enrich said broth. Hooray cereal!

Edit: I can't get my mind around sauce, because once the food is gone out of the sauce...I don't drink it out of the bowl. Ok, there was this one green curry once...but still.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Lilija (log)

[KingLear]

But if you finish the food and the sauce at the same time - now that's bliss.

[Florida]

It's an ingredient.

The problem lies in how you choose to define the term "cereal"

[IndyRob]

As a child I liked to leave my Cap'n Crunch in the milk until it softened a bit. So it's a marinade.

Then when the cereal gone, I had a chaser of infused milk.

Oh great. Now I'm thinking of making ice cream from Cap'n Crunch infused cream.

[Beebs]

It's a soup. You eat it in a bowl with a spoon.