
Originally Posted by
kortin
"Oatmeal is a product made by processing oats. In North America, oatmeal means any crushed oats, rolled oats, or cut oats used in recipes such as oatmeal cookies. The porridge made from this is also called oatmeal or oatmeal cereal. However in other parts of the English-speaking world, oatmeal means coarsely ground oats.
Porridge is a simple dish made by boiling oats (normally crushed oats, occasionally oatmeal) or another meal in water, milk or both. Oat and semolina porridge are in many countries the most popular varieties. Some other meals used for porridge include rice, wheat, peasemeal, barley, and cornmeal.
In many cultures, it is eaten as a breakfast, often with the addition of sugar or cream. As the traditional breakfast of Scotland (where it is also spelled porage, after a popular brand name of oats) it is made with salt. Some manufacturers of breakfast cereal sell "ready-made" versions; aficionados question whether these can truly be called porridge. Gruel is a thin porridge made with water."