Two national porridge-making champions from almost opposite sides of the planet have triumphed in the annual world championships held in the Scottish Highlands.

Gina Saarberg, 28, took the coveted Golden Spurtle using the same recipe that saw her crowned Dutch champion in July, using organic pinhead oats, salt and water that she brought with her from the Netherlands.

Australian champion Rob Reid took the speciality award - where competitors can combine oatmeal with any ingredients - with his porridge cannoli, an oaty spin on a tube-shaped dessert that originated in Sicily.

Thirty competitors from 14 countries took part in the contest, held each year at Carrbridge, just north of Aviemore.

Gina, from Zuthphen, started eating a kind of porridge using rolled oats in her student days because it was a cheap meal.

But she had never tasted the traditional variety until she learned about the Dutch porridge-making contest and decided to enter as a "bit of a joke".

"When I first tasted it, it was a world of difference - I've been missing out all these years," she told BBC Scotland News.

The contest rules only allow three ingredients - oats, water and salt.

She only started adding salt to her porridge ahead of the competition, but quickly realised it "really brings out the nuances and different aromas".

She believes her secret weapon may have been the water which she brought with her from her home city.

"It's very soft, and I think the mineral content may have something to do with it. I'm not sure - but it worked last time and this time as well, so maybe it's the water".

In the Speciality Porridge category, Rob, from Sydney, came up with his recipe just a few weeks before competing in the Australian national porridge championships - the Pearly Spurtle - after realising how seriously everyone was taking it.

Tapping into his family heritage - his father is Scottish and his mother is Sicilian - he decided to make a porridge cannoli.

"I then had to engineer it," the 36-year-old told BBC Scotland News.

The cream uses the traditional mix of ricotta, mascarpone and sugar but he blended in porridge, sieved it and added some ground toasted oats.

It provides the filling for shells, made like brandy snaps but using Sicilian Marsala wine instead.

"After I came up with the idea, I spent a whole day in the kitchen with one of my daughters at home making multiple different types of shells and different creams, trying to work out how to put the porridge in the cream," he said.

Having won the Pearly Spurtle, he then spent the next six weeks improving the recipe in preparation for the ultimate challenge in Scotland.

Rob used to own a café, but he now installs blinds and curtains for a living and uses his free time to channel his culinary creativity.

"Not working in a kitchen for something like this meant I was able to be really creative with it because it wasn't my job and I was able to play with it a bit more," he said.

The annual contest was started in 1994 in Carrbridge by a local hotel owner as a way of promoting the health benefits of porridge as well raising the profile of the area.

Porridge Chieftain Alan Rankin said: "The World Porridge Making Championship is a wonderfully quirky tradition that thrives on good humour and friendly competition, offering a wonderful escape from the daily grind.

"Each year, our local community opens its doors and we hope everyone who joined us leaves with fond memories of their visit."