Fatty Porridge

  

As a child, I read many stories about children a long, long time ago who loved nothing more than a really fatty porridge. With my vivid imagination I envisioned how amazing a fatty porridge actually could taste, but since I didn't love oatmeal and I hated butter, it was always somewhat hard to wrap my head around. I asked my elders to explain this odd phenomenon, but I never got a straight answer. Once I’d grown a little older I realized, the sad truth was, that all these children a long, long time ago were starving and would gladly eat a stick of butter if they were gifted one. This insight gave those stories a brand new and quite disturbing light.

                      

I have never dealt with anything similar, even though my finances are to say the very least, up and down, due to my collection of odd and unreliable jobs. However, despite the financial uncertainty I at times find myself in, I’m also a privileged Swedish/American person, born into our consumerist society, who honestly always have had more than I’ve actually needed. An example of this is that even when I’m completely out of money and I haven’t bought food in over a week, I still always have something eatable at home. Like last night I found a can of tuna, and I was like “Tuna, damn, that’s protein and everything”. I mixed it with Sambal Oelek and mayo, cracked some pepper on top, used the last bit of gas in my SodaStream machine, turned on Netflix, and I’m not gonna lie - I felt pretty fancy as I ate my canned tuna and drank my water.       

                                                                                                                                      

                           

                     

This morning I woke up starving, I guess a can of tuna only goes so far calorie wise. I opened up my pantry and tried to think creatively about my breakfast options. I saw a bag of oats, but I knew I was working another night shift at the casino later, and oats and water wouldn't be filling enough for that. (Calorie counting really is a class thing, not saying I’ve never done it, just saying). So I added a ton of butter and sugar to my oatmeal and sprinkled some cinnamon and cardamom on top. Then I brewed coffee, sat down at our new fancy dining table (that we couldn’t afford), turned on Ravel Radio on Spotify, and I enjoyed the shit out of that fatty porridge. They were right those children back in the day - if you’re hungry enough, fatty porridge can be quite a delicacy.