IT’S A BRAND NEW DAY FOR GOOD OLD MUESLI
Trendy ‘overnight oats’ were first prepared by a Swiss nutritionist in the late 1800s
If you routinely rush in the morning and leave little time for breakfast before scurrying to work, you should make and eat muesli. And I’m not referring to the dried, just-add-milk kind sold in a box at supermarkets.
I’m talking about the original style of muesli, which has become popular again. But some might not realize that, because on countless food blogs, on Pinterest and at other locations on the Internet, many folks are referring to this creation as overnight oats.
That’s not a bad thing, but what has my head spinning a bit is that some writers on those sites have anointed this style of oats as being new and trendy. And that is odd, because the idea for preparing them this way was developed more than 100 years ago and it was called muesli. According to the New Food
Lover’s Companion, Swiss nutritionist Dr. Bircher-Benner whipped up the first batch of it in the late 1800s. Bircher-Benner had founded a sanitarium in Zurich at that time and his modus operandi was to heal the sick through healthy eating.
He believed that, to stabilize one’s health, people, sick or healthy, should eat more raw food. That mantra led him to create muesli, a German word that means “mixture.”
His muesli was not a quick morning meal for those on the run; it was actually a health elixir that was served as a starter for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
That would explain why such a small amount of oats is called for in his original recipe for muesli. To make it, 1 Tbsp of rolled oats was soaked in 3 Tbsp cold water for 12 hours. That process plumped up and softened the oats and made them edible without having to cook them.
After soaking, the oats were flavoured with 1 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Big on the apple-a-day-keeps-the-doctor-away theory, Bircher-Benner than topped his muesli with one large or two small apples, grated with skin-on, and 1 Tbsp of ground hazelnuts or almonds.
According to The Oxford Companion to Food, this style of muesli made its first appearance in Britain as early as 1926. But until the 1960s, it was largely restricted to the health-food fringe and was often called birchermuesli.
That term is still used, but it’s now usually separated into two words, Bircher muesli. And thanks to celebrity chefs in Britain, such as Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay, and others around the world, Bircher muesli is no longer on the fringes.
It should probably be called Bircher-style muesli, though, because nowadays it’s meant to act as breakfast, not be a starter served at every meal. These days, we also have a wide range of other healthful ingredients to use in that muesli not available to Bircher-Benner when he made his first batch.
It’s for those reasons that modern recipes, such as mine today, see the oats soaked in other liquids, not just water. They’re also topped and flavoured in all sorts of ways.
What has not changed is that making this style of muesli takes no time at all and you can prepare the oats the night before. The next morning, you simply top the oats as desired and voila, a quick and healthy breakfast is ready. And, if you are still running late, you can pack it up and take it with you to work.
Bircher-Style Muesli
This recipe serves one, but could easily be doubled or expanded. The oats used in it are believed to help reduce blood cholesterol levels and are an excellent or good source of vitamins B-2 and E, fibre and minerals such as potassium and iron. Preparation: a few minutes Cooking time: none Makes: one serving 1/2 cup large-flake rolled oats 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp liquid of choice, such as whole milk, or coconut, rice, almond or soy beverage • pinch salt • pinch ground cinnamon • maple syrup, honey or agave syrup, to taste • nuts and seeds, to taste, such as pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or almonds • dried fruit, to taste, such as raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries and/or coconut flakes • fresh fruit, to taste, such as diced apple, berries, sliced banana and/or sliced kiwi Combine the oats, liquid of choice, salt and cinnamon in a 500-mL mason jar or similar-sized vessel. (The jar won’t be close to being full, but the added room will give you space to add your toppings if you choose to serve the muesli from the jar, especially if you take the muesli to work with you in the morning.)
Cover and refrigerate the oat mixture overnight. The next morning, spoon the oats into a bowl, or serve them right from the jar, topped with your choice of the remaining ingredients.