A couple of years ago in the course of touring Bob’s Red Mill, the whole-foods purveyor based in Portland, Ore., I learned a new word: spurtle. A spurtle is a wooden dowel-like implement used to stir oatmeal. They are common in Scotland, where an international porridge-making competition called the Golden Spurtle is held every year in October. There are two sections to the competition: one for plain porridge made with steel-cut oats (also known as pinhead oats) and nothing more than water and salt; and one for specialty porridges, in which the steel-cut oats are used in a dish with other ingredients, sweet or savory.

Bob’s Red Mill entered and won the traditional porridge competition in 2010, which was quite an honor. This inspired the company to create its own oatmeal contest, offering the winner an all-expenses-paid trip to Scotland to compete in the Golden Spurtle.

I was a judge this year in the Bob’s Red Mill contest – it’s called the Spar for the Spurtle — and I was very impressed with and inspired by the range of dishes. When it came to choosing a winner, my fellow judges and I were all on the same page: Laurie Figone, from Petaluma, Calif., produced a delicious savory dish she called an Italian Pinhead Torta, a sort of oat-and-vegetable frittata inspired by her mother-in-law’s rice torta. It showed off the oats front and center, and I think Laurie has a good shot at the Golden Spurtle.

When I got back from Portland I couldn’t wait to get into the kitchen with a few packets of steel-cut oats. It had never occurred to me to use this grain for savory dishes, but now I had lots of ideas. Oats, which are a good source of dietary fiber, thiamin, magnesium and phosphorus and a very good source of manganese, have great flavor and texture, and they absorb other flavors well. Because they release creamy starch into the liquid they’re cooked in, they’re perfect for polentas and puddings. Who knows — maybe I’ll enter the Golden Spurtle myself next year with one of this week’s Recipes for Health.