Oats (botanical name Avena sativa ), while not as widely-grown and eaten as wheat, are one of the world's most important grain crops, particularly for people living in cool temperate climates. Distinguishable from wheat and barley by its open, spreading seed head, or ear, oats will grow in cool, moist climates and on poor soil, which goes a long way to explaining why it is such a staple in Scotland, for instance.
Oats: a food usually reserved for horses in England, in Scotland supports the people.
- Samuel Johnson (an Englishman).
Aye, which is why in England you'll raise fine horses, while in Scotland we'll raise fine people.
- Johnson's biographer, James Boswell (a Scot).
Oats are used as a filler in delicacies such as haggis and in hearty soups, and you can make delicious biscuits from oat flour and flakes, but it's probably as the stuff porridge is made from that oats are best-known. As can be seen from the above quotes, oats are also a common animal feed, particularly for horses. Indeed, it's possible that the cultivation of oats grew alongside the domestication of horses.
Oats can be used for more than
Continued page 2/18