Despite having been brought up in Scotland, I never developed a taste for its traditional oatmeal porridge despite being surrounded by the very fields the relevant cereal Avena sativa grows in. I do however love Scottish oatcakes.
Imagine my surprise on arriving in China many years later and finding that oatmeal porridge is even a thing here. A big thing, in fact, especially among those of more advanced years. Every supermarket carries oatmeal, porridge for the making of.
Known as S: 燕麦: T: 燕麥 (yàn mài), oats have been grown here for thousands of years, mainly in the northwest of the the country. Most goes to animal feed and other non-human nutrition uses.
Most oats for human consumption that I see now comes from Australia.
Chinese company; Australian oats.
At the same time, China is a major exporter, presumably of fodder oats.
Nearly all oats for human consumption ends up in S: 燕麦粥: T: 燕麥粥 (yàn mài zhōu) porridge, with a little going to baked goods etc.
Quaker Oats have had a presence in China since 2015 and Oatly, the Swedish fake milk pushers since 2021.
I'm sticking to my oatcakes and cheese made from real cow juice.
