Breakfast porridge: oats, semolina, millet and buckwheat without lumps or scorching

A pinch of salt is needed even in sweet porridge: without it the flavour is flat. A pinch per serving, ¼–½ tsp for a pot.

Milk porridge catches because milk proteins and sugars stick to the bottom. Three ways to avoid it: a heavy-based pan; rinsing the pan with cold water before pouring in the milk; or starting the grain in water and adding milk when it's almost cooked. Almost every cook does the last one.

Porridge needs to rest: take it off the heat, cover and leave for 5–10 minutes. The grain absorbs the remaining moisture and turns soft and even.

By volume (cups). For thinner porridge add another ½–1 cup of liquid; for looser grains, use less.

Melt 1 tsp butter in the pan and toast the dry oats for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until they smell nutty. Then pour in the liquid. Toasted oats taste far better — a favourite chefs' trick.

The best base is half water, half milk: all-milk porridge is heavier and scorches more easily, all-water is bland. Cook over low heat, stirring, and take it off a little looser than you want: it thickens within a minute at the table.

Lumps form when semolina hits hot liquid in a big batch: the outer grains swell instantly and stick together while the inside stays dry.

Millet often tastes bitter because of fat on the surface of the grains that oxidises in storage. Rinse the millet 2–3 times in hot water, then cover with boiling water for 1 minute and drain. The bitterness goes.

Cook the millet in water 1:2 until it's absorbed (10–15 minutes), then add hot milk — another cup per cup of grain — and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Finish with butter and honey.

The classic is millet with pumpkin: boil 300 g diced pumpkin in water for 10 minutes, add the rinsed millet, then the milk. The pumpkin breaks down and makes the porridge sweet and orange.

Pick over the buckwheat, rinse it and dry-toast it in a pan for 2–3 minutes: it becomes fluffy and fragrant. Cover with boiling water 1:2, salt and cook covered over low heat for 15–20 minutes without stirring. Take off the heat and leave covered for another 10 minutes. For milky buckwheat, pour hot milk over the cooked grain.

For rice pudding use short-grain rice: it's starchy and gives a creamy texture. First cook the rice in water 1:1 until absorbed, 8–10 minutes, then pour in hot milk (3 more parts) and cook for 15–20 minutes over low heat, stirring often.

A breakfast that makes itself overnight in the fridge. The oats absorb the liquid and turn soft and creamy without cooking.

Porridge on its own is mostly carbohydrate. To stay full until lunch, add protein and healthy fats. A simple formula: fruit + crunch + protein/fat.

Homemade granola is tastier and cheaper than shop-bought, and it has exactly as much sugar as you decide.

Mix 300 g rolled oats, 100 g nuts, 50 g seeds and a pinch of salt and cinnamon. Separately warm 60 g honey and 40 ml oil and pour over the dry mix, stirring well. Spread thinly on a lined tray and bake at 160 °C for 20–25 minutes, stirring once. Add dried fruit after baking — otherwise it burns.