The sun was shining on London’s most picturesque riverside tourist spot, and as I was strolling past The Royal Festival Hall with the great London Eye rising up in the background, I noticed a hive of activity going on outside the colourful Giraffe restaurant and wandered over to see what all the hype was about.

I was welcomed with a warming pot of Rude Health porridge and then treated to a live feast for the eyes whilst competitive hopefuls cooked up porridge oats on mini stoves, adding all manner of exotic ingredients.

Crazy concoctions included, sweet maple porridge with sausage and bacon, Boozy Breakfast – white chocolate, macadamia nuts and brandy-soaked cranberries, and my particular favourite Porrichino – a layered attempt to win the porridge crown – made up of espresso and rum-soaked sponge fingers, rum-soaked sultanas, Greek yoghurt, caramelised almonds and chocolate dusting.

The overall winner was a spicy take on the popular winter breckie: Mexican Mole Porridge containing lime, chilli, chilli paste, ginger, cumin, coriander and lime zest.

Anyone still hanging around then got to see PorridgeLady (winner of the world Porridge-Making Championships), cook her award-winning Spotted Dick Porridge Pudding and then sample it with hot custard. Yum!

Finally, I got out of the cold and ventured into Giraffe for a stack of fine blueberry and banana pancakes with maple syrup, before wandering off to hunt down some free lunch…