Melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan.

Add chopped onion, cook until soft but not brown.

Add oatmeal, salt and pepper, cook for a few minutes.

Add stock slowly, stirring constantly.

Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 1/2 hour.

Liquidize for 1 minute or put through a sieve.

Return to saucepan, add milk, reheat.

Serve with cream and chopped parsley as garnish.

hearty yet relatively uncomplicated soups form a large part of the national cuisine. In some homes they may be the entire meal. Oatmeal soup is simple, yet has a rich and complex flavour. Oatmeal has a variety of uses in Scotland, from cakes and desserts to this soup. It comes in several grades, from coarse to fine and if you cannot obtain a specific grade, either reduce coarse to medium or fine by grinding it in your blender for a few minutes or use whatever you can get.