The oat is the seed (groat) of Avena sativa, a cool-climate cereal grass long central to Scottish, Irish and Nordic diets and now the grain of porridge, granola and oat milk the world over. Mild, faintly sweet and gently nutty, raw rolled oats smell of dry cereal and hay, blooming into a warm, comforting, milky-grain aroma as they cook. The grain is prized less for any bold flavour than for its soft, creamy texture and its soluble fibre, beta-glucan, which thickens porridge and lends oats their famous cholesterol-lowering reputation. Toast them and the cereal note deepens into a roasted, biscuity warmth.