A modern spurtle has a longer surface area than a normal spatula and at the same time a smaller handle, but its handle is wider and rounder. And whether you’re a professional chef who whips up signature dishes for repeat customers or you’re a home gourmet who likes to delight family members with fun, holiday dishes, you probably reach for some tried and true tools that have always worked for you in the past. The Scots, who claim the authorship of the porridge, use a special kitchen utensil called “spurtle” to stir the porridge, which has been handed down since the 15th century. A spurtle is a stirrer made from wood. Preference is given to spurtles made of beech, maple or cherry wood. Unlike a spatula or putty knife, the spurtle does not have a spoon or shovel-like end, but only a rounded tip. This stirrer sits well in the hand and with its rounded end it is easy to work into the corners and edges of pots. This explains why spurtle owners allegedly never lend this simple kitchen appliance, because whoever borrows it would love it so much after a short period of time that they would never return it.

Finished with a protective coat of food safe organic hemp seed oil. Can be washed up safely in the sink. Don't put in the dishwasher. To revitalise just rub in some oil of your choice, olive oil is fine, to recondition the wood. This can be done to all wooden kitchen utensils, boards and bowls. A critic’s first responsibility is to audiences deciding where to spend their money, not to the sensitivities of a play’s practitioners Does anyone starting out in theatre read Tynan anymore? For my generation, coming of age in the 1990s ten years after his death, Tynan was still the Alpha and Omega of theatre-writing. He was the writer who could explain this new continent of drama to us, tell us the major landmarks, give us the names of the tribal elders and account for their social standing. He showed us the form, outlined the social customs and taught us how to give the profession all the love and reverence it deserved.

The second reason for stirring is mixing the ingredients. Through stirring, solid substances in liquids such as milk or water dissolve faster. Furthermore, the speed of chemical reactions between ingredients or during the heating of ingredients increases.

Every cook is familiar with the result of overheating: scorching. By stirring while heating up food, we can prevent scorching and still heat up food to a high temperature. But what helps when heating, can also be useful when cooling things down. Food that is stirred cools down faster. Sightings and monitoring throughout the following two years witnessed a remarkable recovery as Spirtle’s sun-damaged skin lesions slowly healed to scar tissue – the deep raw pink gradually granulating and fading into white. Perhaps it was because she beat the odds; perhaps people admire a survivor whose scars bear witness to the suffering they have withstood; perhaps her horrendous experience touched the hearts of anyone who has ever suffered from sunburn or been caught out by the elements and had to endure physical hardship as a result, but Spirtle became somewhat of a superstar among the cetacean community of the Moray and Cromarty Firths and beyond. Based on form and function, the spurtle also appears in other contexts in Scottish use of language: For example, someone with thin legs is called “spurtle-legged” or one complains about a “spurtle-shot” when one feels side stings.

At this point one seems to hear gleeful, maniacal laughter emanating from Equity’s offices on St. Martin’s Lane, at the sheer presumptuousness of the challenge laid down and its potential to enrage. But the message to reviewers is clear: you are being watched, the power is with us, and this is a game you cannot win. From now on you’ll dance to our tune. Our first sighting of ID#1143 Spirtle in 2017”– Barbara Cheney, University of Aberdeen Lighthouse Field Station 30/05/2017