What’s a ‘Golden Spurtle’? Palmer woman competes for world cooking title many Alaskans never heard of

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - What is a spurtle, and when does it become golden?

Folks in Alaska are learning the answer to both, as a Palmer woman gears up to compete for the global prize.

First, what exactly is a spurtle?

“They traditionally are birch,” Georgia Barkwood said, showing off her spurtle, which resembles a carved wooden stick.

“They are just a wooden Scottish dowel, used for stews, porridge, cooking in general. The reason that they’re so unique is the bottom just gets into the nooks and crannies of whatever pot you have, as opposed to most other things.”

Barkwood is set to compete against roughly 30 cooks from around the world who believe they have the best porridge.

“There are two different heats,” she explained. “One is a traditional heat where you cook salt, water, and porridge with a wooden dowel, like these guys here [showing the spurtle] — traditional dowel — and then the second heat is a recipe of my own concocting. So it will be a specialty recipe, and I will cook both of these in a half-an-hour heat.”

She said during an interview on Thursday that she was raised by a Swiss father and she’s been cooking porridge her whole life.

Over the years, breakfasts such as muesli have become especially popular in Switzerland.

“The whole family cooks porridge,” she said with pride. “And of course, we didn’t call it ‘porridge.’ We just called it ‘oats,’ so [we have a] long family history of soaking [oats] overnight and doing your oats in the morning.

“I just got involved with cooking with the spurtle two years ago when I was in the Highland Games,” she added, “and I entered a contest there.”

She’s a two-time defending Alaska Scottish Highland Games spurtle champion, she said, but missed out on last year’s Golden Spurtle competition by being just a few days late for registration.

That left her with a whole year to prepare for the competition in Carrbridge, Scotland.

“My husband ate porridge for an entire year in different variations,” she said with a big laugh. “A couple times, I posted on social media in my neighborhood groups, and I said, ‘Hey, I have a pot of porridge. It’s 9 o’clock. If anybody’s available to come and taste this, you’re welcome to come on down.’

“So I had a lot of takers, a lot of different recipes,” she said, “and a lot of different variations and incarnations of that said recipe.”

The recipe she will submit for the competition is a variation of the recipe that won her the 2024 title in Alaska.

She won’t give too many hints about what she’ll be cooking up, but did say that it would embody the spirit of the 49th state.

“The recipe was inspired by the resilience of Alaskan people,” she said. “You’re in a dry cabin, or you’re out camping, whatever, and you have these goods. How do you put them together in a way that’s really delicious, but hearty and unique?

“And that’s sort of where I went with this one,” she said. “I also use my own preserves, so we’re getting a little bit of Alaska summer in there.”

It takes a village, she said, and thanked her sponsors — Summit Spice and Tea, Alaska Restaurant Supply, and the Alaskan Scottish Club.

Whether she brings back the Golden Spurtle or not, Barkwood is already banking a treasure chest full of memories.

“I’ve planned quite a lot to get to this spot and in the world, long travels and long year, and I had many, many sponsors help me do this,” she said. “and I thank them from the bottom of my heart; I couldn’t have done it without a lot of sponsors, and it means the world to me.

“I know porridge, but I just wanted to put Alaska and Palmer on the map,” she said. “There’s been very few U.S. competitors that have actually won this, and I just want to bring it home to Palmer. I think that would be absolutely amazing and unique.”

Barkwood will be competing this Saturday at 1 a.m. Alaska time.

The “Golden Spurtle” competition will be streaming live on Facebook.

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